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Row over water-sewer tariff: Come Monday, BJP to gherao Cong councillors’ homes in Ludhiana
They are demanding reinstatement of water-sewer bill exemption to buildings under 125 square yards; as per the MC’s decision at the start of the financial year, only houses with up to 50 square- yard area with only the ground floor are exempted from water-sewer charges
Demanding reinstatement of water-sewer bill exemption to buildings under 125 square yards, BJP leaders on Friday said they will stage an agitation outside the homes of Congress councillors unless the civic body rolled back its decision.
Submitting a memorandum to mayor Balkar Sandhu at the civic body’s Zone D office on Friday, BJP councillors said they will stage protests outside the homes of 62 Congress councillors on Monday.
BJP leaders, including councillors’ leader Sunita Rani, local bodies cell in-charge Inder Aggarwal, and councillors Om Prakash Ratra, Surinder Atawal, Yashpal Chaudhary and Annie Sikka, also demanded that the municipal corporation (MC) revoke the 60-70% hike in water-sewer tariff along with the decision of hiring a private firm to recover dues and taxes from residents.
Aggarwal said, “Apart from rescinding the exemption, the MC has also increased the slab rates for different categories by up to 60%, which is unacceptable as residents are struggling to make ends meet during the pandemic. The tariff for houses with an area from 126 to 250 square yards has been increased from ₹2,520 to ₹4,200.”
As per the MC’s decision at the start of the financial year, only houses with up to 50 square- yard area with only the ground floor are exempted from water-sewer charges. Owners of houses with an area ranging from 51 square yards to 125 square yards will have to shell out ₹2,400 as annual water-sewer charges.
Sunita said, “The exemption given to 50 square yards houses is negligible as few houses that fall under the category. The decision to hire a private firm for recovering dues from the residents will encourage ‘gunda raj’ in the city.”
District BJP president Pushpinder Singal said the civic body is claiming that the tariff had to be revised to avail a loan from the World Bank to commence surface-based water supply in the city. However, the government should have announced a subsidy, so that the extra burden was not shouldered by residents.
“BJP will gherao Congress councillors on Monday, and if our demands are not fulfilled, we will take the agitation a notch higher,” said Singal.
On June 17, the BJP had staged a protest outside the zonal office of the MC over the issue. Congress MLA Surinder Dawar and some Congress councillors had also demanded resumption of water-sewer exemption during a meeting with the mayor on Thursday.
Mayor Balkar Sandhu said “The BJP is trying to gain political mileage. The proposal to hire a private firm for recovery of dues has already been put on hold. The water-sewer tariff has been approved by the MC general house, and if councillors have an objection they can table a resolution to revise the tariff in the next MC house meeting.”
SAD submits memorandum as well
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) councillors led by leader of opposition in MC general house Harbhajan Singh Dang also submitted a memorandum with mayor Balkar Sandhu against revocation of the water-sewer exemption. SAD councillors also condemned the MC’s move to serve ‘absurd’ notices for illegal construction on the basis of new power connections availed by owner.
