Shiv Sena prevails, hike in water cost here to stay
When opposition members stormed out of the meeting, BJP also supported them.
Mumbai: The rise in water charges are here to stay as Shiv Sena foiled the opposition’s attempts to review the five-year old proposal giving BMC administration rights to increase water tax every year on Thursday. Civic standing committee chairman Ramesh Korgaonkar rejected the proposal without allowing any discussion on the issue, leading to walkouts by the opposition and the BJP in protest.
In a notice of motion tabled in the civic standing committee, opposition leader Raja Raja of the Congress demanded that the committee should reconsider its decision taken on May 9, 2012 to hike water supply and sewerage charges for domestic and non-domestic users. The decision was taken to raise money for new water projects. Former commissioner Subodh Kumar had proposed the hike in water tariff every year, by eight per cent for a period of four years.
Accordingly, the hike is implemented from June 16 of every year. Based on the 2012 decision, the civic administration had proposed a 5.39 per cent increase in water supply and sewerage charges for the year 2017-18. But when the proposal came up for discussion in the standing committee, Mr Korgaonkar announced it has been rejected without giving corporators any opportunity to speak. When opposition members stormed out of the meeting, BJP also supported them.
BJP leader Manoj Kotak said, “There is no need to hike water charges when BMC has funds of Rs 61,000 crore in its coffers.” Mr Raja said, “...By not allowing opposition members to speak, Sena has throttled democracy.”
However, Sena group leader Yashwant Jadhav defended the hike in water charges saying it was much lower (5.34 percent) than the eight per cent increase envisaged in the 2012 proposal.
Water supply tariff (in Rs per 1,000 litres)
Category Existing Rates New Rates
Domestic users
- Slums 3.49 3.68
- Hilly areas/adivasi padas 3.87 4.08
- Societies & buildings 4.66 4.91
Non-domestic users
- Non-trading institutions 18.66 19.67
- Commercial institutions 34.99 36.88
- Industrial & commercial 46.65 49.16
- Racecourse & star hotels 69.98 73.75
- Bottling plants 97.20 102.44