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Chandigarh admn puts water tariff hike on hold till next year
UT administrator VP Singh Badnore took the decision in view of the MC resolution seeking a rollback of the hike and the prevailing pandemic situation
The Chandigarh administration on Monday stayed the hike in water tariff till March 31, 2022. The charges were increased by 200 times in September last year.
A detailed notification regarding the stay is awaited. It is expected to bring more clarity on the date from which the decision would be applicable, and if the hiked charges that were paid by the residents would be adjusted.
After public outcry and criticism from the opposition, the MC general house had passed a resolution in October last year, asking the administration to withdraw its September the notification and stick to the existing rates till the pandemic was over.
In response, the UT administration in February this year had asked the MC to reconsider the resolution, and then in May sought some clarifications.
UT administrator VP Singh Badnore took the decision in view of the MC resolution and pandemic situation, it is learnt. MC commissioner KK Yadav had opposed the MC resolution on rollback of the hiked tariffs, contending major loss to a financially struggling civic body.
The MC collects ₹90 crore per annum as water charges, but the expenditure incurred to maintain supply to its 1.8 lakh consumers is ₹225 crore, said an official. Struggling to even pay salaries to its employees because of a severe financial crunch, the civic body was expected to earn an additional ₹60 crore from the hike.
Political slugfest
The administration’s decision has come days before the Congress had planned a major city-wide protest against the hike.
Facing resistance from various quarters, the top BJP leadership, including city president Arun Sood and mayor Ravikant Sharma met the UT administrator a few days ago and pressed for a rollback.
Sharma said, “We always deliver on our promises. Just after my election, I declared that the rollback would be one of my priorities.”
Meanwhile, even though Congress welcomed the decision, it questioned its timing. “Why put the hike on hold till March 2022 only? Is it because the MC elections are due in December this year,” asked HS Lucky, chief spokesperson of city Congress.
