AAP writes to Chandigarh mayor, seeks guarantee against water tariff hike till 2023

In a letter written on behalf of all councillors of AAP, the party has said that on January 24, the mayor had assured the House that there won’t be any change in water tariff hike till March 31 this year

The Chandigarh unit of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has written to city mayor Sarabjit Kaur demanding that an agenda item be brought in the General House meeting of the municipal corporation (MC) on March 29, to defer hike in water tariff till March 31, 2023.

AAP’s Chandigarh unit wrote to mayor Sarabjit Kaur demanding an agenda item on water tariff hike be brought in the MC General House meeting. (HT FIle)

In a letter written on behalf of all councillors of AAP, the party has said that on January 24, the mayor had assured the House that there won’t be any change in water tariff hike till March 31 this year. Now, it needs to be extended further, the letter says. It has also been demanded that a committee be constituted to consider financial implications of allowing 20 kilo litre of water to every family within MC limits at zero tariff.

The letter further demands that one more item on voting rights to nominated councillors be brought in the House. It was also sought that Chandigarh administration be requested to withdraw an appeal against Punjab and Haryana high court order in which rights granted to nominated councillors were quashed. UT’s appeal against it is pending in Supreme Court. Mostly, political workers are nominated as councillors. Hence, there is no need to restore voting rights to nominate councillors, it was stated.

The letter also says that a resolution be moved in the House against the privatisation of power services in the city. “Electricity services should not be privatised. There being no other public body such as Vidhan Sabha. It is the duty of the House to convey feelings of public to UT administration,” the party stated.

AAP, which had won 14 seats (highest among all parties) in the municipal elections held in December, had lost all three seats of mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor in the mayoral polls held in January. All three posts were bagged by the BJP, which has 12 councillors.