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Dyeing industry’s petition: Waive water-sewer charges for lockdown period, HC tells Ludhiana MC
The single-judge bench of Justice Augustine George Masih on Wednesday directed MC to issue fresh bills within a week
In huge relief for the dyeing industry, the Punjab and Haryana high court has directed the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation to waive their water-sewer user charges pertaining to the lockdown period.
Disposing of a petition filed by the Punjab Dyers Association (PDA) on September 28, the single-judge bench of Justice Augustine George Masih on Wednesday directed MC to issue fresh bills within a week after deducting the amount pertaining to the lockdown period in a week. The remaining dues have to be cleared by the petitioners (dyeing industry) within three days of issuance of bills, the high court said.
PDA general secretary, Bobby Jindal said, “The dyeing industry remained shut during the Covid-19 lockdown in Punjab from March 23 to May 17. How can the industrialists pay water-sewer charges for the months when no industrial operations took place? MC had issued unjustified bills, but the court has provided us major relief.”
In their petition, the association, which has over 350 members, also stated that common effluent treatment plants (CETP) were being established for the dyeing industry and were expected to be completed by October 31. Following this, the discharge will not be released in MC sewer lines. Hence, the industry should not be made to pay the user charges for using MC sewer lines till March 2021.
The association had also filed another petition in the court against the annual water-sewer bills issued by MC, contending that the charges were not levied on actual usage, but against the maximum discharge permissible as granted by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB). This matter will come up for hearing in December.
“Even if the owners use less water in comparison to the permission they have taken from PPCB, MC levies bills as per the permissible limit,” Jindal said.
MC superintending engineer Rajinder Singh said, “The corporation will revise the bills after removing the lockdown period from the total billable months. This may take some time.”
