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Chandigarh MC will pay back ₹412-crore loan through hiked water tariff: MC chief
₹40 crore to be paid back to French government annually from December 2029, for which water tariff will be almost doubled, Chandigarh MC chief informs House
In the form of hiked water tariffs, from December 2029, the Chandigarh municipal corporation will have to return ₹40 crore annually to the French government to pay off the ₹412-crore loan taken for the ambitious 24x7 water supply project.
These details were shared by municipal commissioner Anindita Mitra during a special House meeting on Friday.
“The loan is required to be repaid on a quarterly basis over a period of 15 years after completion of the project, which is expected by December 2029. The instalment will be around €1 million quarterly, which means ₹10 crore,” said Mitra.
Once the project is completed, the hiked water tariffs will be notified by the Chandigarh administration and will be almost double the rates than those being charged at present.
The special meeting was called by AAP mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor, who has been engaged in a war of words with UT administrator Banwarilal Purohit for dismissing MC’s free water decision.
While the administrator has termed the decision financially impractical in view of the ₹412-crore loan for the 24x7 water supply project and said he will not approve it, the mayor has slammed the former for not even consider the files before rejecting them.
The loan is being provided by French government’s Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) for which an agreement was signed in December 2022. The project will be implemented phase wise, for which the city has been divided into 55 district metering areas, comprising nearly one sector. The entire city is expected be covered by 2029.
‘ ₹106-crore shortfall in water supply revenue’
While presenting more fiscal details on Friday, Mitra said in FY 2023-24 (up to February 29, 2024), the civic body spent ₹244.7 crore on water supply, but in return, it could generate only ₹138.58 crore as revenue. “The civic body is already in deficit of ₹106.12 crore, and we are hopeful that once the project is implemented, the expenditure amount on the maintenance and repairs will be cut drastically and revenue generation will be increased with smart metering,” she added.
In the past three years, 1,315 water contamination complaints and 1,787 muddy water complaints were received by the civic body. Not only this, people also complained of less water pressure on the upper floors of the houses, Mitra said.
Mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor later said, “The meeting was called to get details of the project, its implementation status and to know the financial implications. We still stand by providing free 20,000 litres of free water to residents every month.”
Opposition questions project’s necessity
During the meeting, councillors from Opposition parties questioned if the city residents actually needed 24x7 water supply.
Congress councillor Gurpreet Singh Gabi said, “Earlier, water supply was provided thrice a day, but the commissioner decided to cut this down to two times, citing that people do not require more water and it will result in leakages. Also, the project was approved in 2016 and the councillors fixed the charges for the distant 2029 in 2019. Only the current councillors in 2029 should decide the new rates.”
Congress councillor Gurbax Rawat also said the project was initiated after survey from only 2,000 city residents, but if more people were surveyed, not everyone would opt for round-the-clock water supply, especially at hiked rates.
AAP councillors also contended that a city-wide survey was required to ascertain the project’s requirement.
On the other hand, BJP councillors said the project was required and what the leaders had decided previously should not be questioned.
Two BJP councillors suspended
A day after Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher called the mayor “rondu ram (crybaby)”, BJP councillors Kanwarjit Singh Rana and Manoj Sonkar repeated the remarks in the House, spurring protests by AAP and Congress councillors, who demanded an apology. Amid the melee, the mayor suspended the two BJP councillors and had them marshaled out.
Commissioner denies new staff for mayor’s campaign
Though Dhalor had proposed to have four data entry operators, three clerks and one photographer to create a monitoring cell for the “Mayor Apke Dwar” campaign, MC chief said new posts cannot be created, but the staff can be readjusted.
“We already have a monitoring cell with enough staff. If the mayor requires more people in his team, the already employed staff can be adjusted accordingly,” she said.
