MHADA wants civic body to waive Rs 29-cr penalty

The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) has asked the civic body to waive off a Rs 29 crore penalty imposed for late payment of water bills.

The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) has asked the civic body to waive off a Rs 29 crore penalty imposed for late payment of water bills.

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MHADA owed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Rs 113 crore as water dues since 2001. Although the state agency had cleared the dues, the civic body had penalised it for the delay.

MHADA chairman, Amarjitsingh Manhas, has written a letter to the standing committee chairman, Rahul Shewale, assuring him that future payments will be made on time and asking him to waive off the fine.

Of the total bills of Rs 113 crore, Rs 46 crore dues were from MHADA’s Mumbai board, while the rest was from the repair and reconstruction board.

Shewale said that since the BMC was already facing a cash crunch, it would be difficult to waive off the penalty. He said: “They have to settle the issue with the state government and not with the BMC.”

MHADA sources said water charges were collected from residents of buildings owned by the agency and then handed over to the civic body. Although the civic body has revised water rates twice, MHADA has not implemented the revision following the state government’s order to charge the old rates.

The civic body supplies drinking water to more than 1.25 lakh families living in the 3,000-odd buildings in the city built by MHADA.