Mumbai: Several departments of the Maharashtra government have not paid their water bills to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) since 2001. As of May 31, 2019, the Maharashtra government owes Rs 481.52 crores to the BMC. A total of 22 departments find their place in the BMC’s defaulters list of pending water bills.
Multiple departments including Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Rs 290 crores), home department (Rs 96 crores), public health department (Rs 8 crores), rural development department (Rs 49 crores) and public works department (Rs 9 crores) are yet to pay their water bills.
“BMC has paid taxes amounting to over Rs 1,113 crores to the state government in the last three years. If we can pay the charges on time, the state government is also expected to pay their water bills. Yet, despite repeated reminders, they fail to clear their dues,” an officer from the hydraulic engineering (revenue) department said.
The Mhada tops the list of defaulters with outstanding arrears of Rs 290 crores. CEO of Mhada, Milind Mhiaskar said, “The dues are of the Mhada residential buildings and not offices.”
Meanwhile, a RTI plea revealed that CM’s residence, Varsha, owes Rs7 lakh to BMC. The government claimed that the water charges were paid in 2018 while further payments have been kept on hold due to discrepancies.
