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No water tariff hike rollback in Chandigarh for now
There will be no immediate rollback in the water tariff hike in Chandigarh
There will be no immediate rollback in the water tariff hike in Chandigarh. The administration is all set to ask the municipal corporation to reconsider the General House resolution, seeking withdrawal of the tariff hike notification.
In September last year, the UT administration had notified a hike between 50% and 200%, depending upon the category of user and water consumption level.
After facing public outcry and criticism from the opposition, the MC General House passed a resolution in October, asking the administration to withdraw the notification and stick to the existing rates till the pandemic lasts. The resolution was then send to the administration for its approval.
“The administration is not rejecting the resolution, but will only ask the MC to reconsider it,” said a senior UT official, who did not wish to be named.
Notably, after his election, mayor Ravikant Sharma had listed the rollback in water tariff as one of his priorities. BJP city chief Arun Sood also held several rounds of meetings with the administration on the issue.
Meanwhile, residents have been getting inflated water bills since December last year. Resident welfare associations, trade unions and social organisations even took out a rally opposing the hike earlier this year.
‘Need of the hour for fund-starved MC’
The administration’s decision is in the wake of the MC financial crisis and the need for it to generate its own funds, said the UT official.
“The hike was very much needed, as for nearly a decade there was no revision. The city has one of the lowest water tariffs,” said an MC official, requesting anonymity.
In fact, the resolution was accompanied by the MC commissioner’s note, which laid emphasis on the need and urgency of the hike.
The rates were last revised in 2011. The proposal for further hike was first mooted in 2014. Another attempt was made in 2018, but the General House rejected it while seeking additional water supply for the city first.
An audit department report had also asked the MC to revise the rates, since its annual losses from water supply had crossed ₹135 crore per annum from ₹41 crore in 2011. The report also observed: “As the annual recurring expenses are increasing by 10-15% every year, losses will further increase in the future, putting a huge pressure on the MC’s coffers.”
The MC collects ₹90 crore per annum as water charges, but expenditure incurred to maintain the supply to its 1.8 lakh consumers is ₹225 crore, said the official. Struggling to even pay salaries to its employees because of a severe financial crunch, the civic body expects to earn an additional ₹60 crore from the hike.
