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Chandigarh MC commissioner gives nod to hike in water tariff
Yadav told Hindustan Times that the agenda will be tabled before the MC general house meeting on December 30 for approval and accordingly rates will be revised.
Municipal corporation commissioner KK Yadav on Tuesday gave nod to the engineering department’s proposal to double the existing water tariff.
Yadav told Hindustan Times that the agenda will be tabled before the MC general house meeting on December 30 for approval and accordingly rates will be revised.
While Congress is set to oppose the proposal, mayor Rajesh Kalia appears to be in favour of the agenda. Kalia said that hike in water tariff is important to stem MC’s water supply losses that will touch almost ₹100 crore by the next financial year. “The house is supreme and it will take the final call on the matter,” he said.
GOING BY AUDIT REPORT
Yadav said hike in water charges was the need of the hour, especially after an audit department report asked the MC to revised the rates , since MC’s annual losses from water supply had crossed ₹82 crore. As per the audit report, water charges had not been revised for the last nine years. In 2011, the difference between MC’s revenue and expenditure of water supply was ₹41 crore, that had doubled now.
As per the audit report, MC collects ₹78 crore per annum as water charges, but annual expenditure incurred to maintain the supply to its 1.8 lakh consumers is ₹160 crore.
As the annual recurring expenses are increasing by 10% to 15% every year, losses will further increase in the future, putting huge pressure on MC’s coffers, stated the report.
HOW MUCH HIKE IS PROPOSED?
As per the proposal of the engineering department, the existing rates will be doubled (see box). However, it is at the house’s discretion to take the final decision. The general house has rejected similar proposals twice in the last five years.
The first such proposal was mooted in 2014. Then again in 2018, officials made attempts to hike rates. However, the house, with a majority of BJP councillors, did not give it approval as they were not in favour of tariff revision till the city was provided with additional water supply.
Now that the city has received an additional 29 MGD (million gallons per day) water from phases 5 and 6 of Kajauli waterworks, it is to be seen whether or not the revision will be approved.
Congress councillor Devinder Babla said instead of hiking rates, the MC should reduce expenditure by limiting water wastage and introducing other systematic reforms that have never been considered.
