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PMC may face financial strain over pending water bills
Maharashtra government has decided to divert GST grant, provided to municipal corporations, of PMC to cover the arrears due to water resources department
Pune: The Maharashtra government has decided to divert the Goods and Services Tax (GST) grant, provided to municipal corporations, of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to cover the arrears due to water resources department.
With the water resources department informing the government that PMC has an outstanding of ₹187 crore, the latter faces a financial burden if the state goes ahead with its plan.
PMC receives around ₹180 crore GST grant every month from the state government.
The state on May 8 issued orders to civic bodies to claim water bill dues from GST grant. It has ordered PMC to submit details about undisputed arrears of water bills.
However, PMC has denied that it has to pay any water bill dues to the water resources department.
The state government’s direction comes after the water resources department recently informed the former about the arrears. In the order, the municipal corporations should contact the water resources department to determine the undisputed water bill outstanding, clear the dues and share the details.
One of the senior water resources department officials said, “We informed the state government about arrears and undisputed water bill charges on May 6.”
The failure of PMC to submit outstanding details to authorities will lead to the undisputed water tax amount calculated by the water resources department to be collected from GST subsidy from next month.
Nandkishore Jagtap, head, PMC water supply department, said, “We have sent explanation regarding arrears to the state government on May 10 stating that the water resources department has calculated arrears from 2016. They have charged commercial water charges instead of residential. We have cleared arrears now and then, yet they have mentioned commercial water bill charges and imposed fines.”
According to the water resources department officials, the state government has approved annual water usage of 11.50 thousand million litres per cubic feet (TMC) for Pune as per the allocation of Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority (MWRRA) rule, but PMC uses 18.50 thousand million TMC. Hence, the department has put an administrative fine on extra usage of water and calculated it to be ₹187 crore.
The water resources department claims that PMC is supplying 10 per cent of water from its quota to commercial purposes and charges only 2.5 per cent users. Refuting the claim, civic officials said PMC is supplying 97.50 per cent water quota for residential purposes and rest to commercial users.
Jagtap said, “We are supplying water to commercial establishments as per rule.”
