Delhi Jal Board — Delhi Jal Board Greater Kailash - I area

Address:

New Delhi, Delhi, 110048

Somewhere in the end of December 2013 and start of January 2014, when the Kejriwal Government had won the legisaltive elections and Arvind Kejriwal became the CM, some official from the Delhi Jal Board visited my house and said my meter was faulty as it was not showing any reading. He removed the meter and said a new meter will be installed now which shows proper reading for the purpose of getting accurate bills as many consumers were facing the problem of inaccurate and huge bills. The house where I stay is my mother's house, who stays in Mumbai and I too stay a lot in Mumbai as she is of old age and keeps calling me to stay with her. My husband passed away in 1999 and I am a single mother of two children who stay with their grandmother in some other house within the same locality. For some time I kept waiting for the new meter to be installed but no one came to install the new meter. When I went to the local Delhi jal Board office they told me to wait as Arvind Kejriwal had resigned from the Chief Minister and the DJB authorities were yet to decide what to do about faulty meters as decision was still pending.

On some visits to the DJB they would tell me to wait or either buy a new meter yourself and apply for a new connection. I told them what is the guarantee that they will not say gain that my new meter is faulty to which they said there is no guarantee. Everytime they had a different suggestion to give and no proper answer/suggestion was given to me. Most of the time they would say "madam aadhi Delhi ke paas meter ya toh nahin hai ya faulty hai toh is problem ko solve karne mein time toh lagega". I asked them why they just took my meter and not everyone else's meter who stay in different floors on the same plot to which they said my meter was faulty and they will check other meters too when they get time. I told them that no one ever told us that our meter was faulty and it has been a very long time since we got water bill.

Again I was told to wait or buy a meter from my own pocket which again could be declared as faulty and DJB could disapprove it and remove it again. Therefore, it was best for me to wait and not spend money unnecessarily. Some officials even said "Madam 5000 rs dedo saara kaam okay karwa denge" but I refused because I had hope in the Kejriwal Government when they got re elected in 2015 that they would solve this problem now as many promises were made regarding water meter connection and bills at that time.

I know that it had totally skipped my mind to find out about the status of new meter but I visited the DJB department on various occasions after that but my request were falling on deaf ears.

Recently some officials from the DJB arrived at my house and asked me to show them my meter. I told them about my meter and what happened in the past to which they said " madam yeh aapka kaam hai meter lagwana chahe department se lagwayo ya baahar se par hamari thodhi seva toh karni chahiye nahin toh hum aapki seva kaise karenge". I immediately got a hint that they were asking for a bribe to install a new meter connection.

I told them that I will visit the department again to which they said ab toh bahut late ho gaye aap humein paise dedo ham sab ok karwa denge. When I refused, they left and said koi baat nahin hamein mat pareshan karna jab hum paani kaat denge".

This is totally unacceptable behavior from DJB officials which must be looked upon by senior officials. I am sure many other people in Delhi would be facing similar situation like mine where government officials misuse their power and unnecessarily trouble common people. It is DJB's fault that they asked me to wait until a decision was taken by DJB to install meters on their own. If my meter was faulty how was I supposed to know. Why did they never send me any bills for my meter. These are the questions I asked the DJB officials but they could not give any proper explanation for that.

Please look into this matter urgently and let me know what I can do to get a new meter which they will not say is faulty and avoid the officials who are asking for bribe to get new meter and connection.

Hoping to get a positive response and some action to be taken immediately.

My address is R-209 Greater Kailash - I, Ground Floor, New Delhi - 110048