Chandigarh Municipal Corporation will not increase water rates for now
Chandigarh Municipal Corporation will not increase the water rates for now The Chandigarh municipal corporation will not increase the water rates for now, officials confirmed. The finance and contract committee (F&CC), headed by mayor Davesh Moudgil, on Tuesday deferred the agenda to revise the water tariff. This came as a blow to the MC executives as increasing the water tariff was part of MC’s financial roadmap prepared by MC commissioner KK Yadav on the directions of the UT administrator to overcome its current financial crisis. According to MC officials, the corporation has been incurring Rs 160 crore on operation and maintenance of water supply in Chandigarh, but it’s not earning more than Rs 78 crore. The public health department has proposed two rates, one seeking a “moderate” 60% hike and another 95% hike, to cover the deficit between expenditure and revenue. However, while chairing the F&CC meeting, the mayor shelved the agenda stating that there was a need to first curb water supply losses. Commissioner KK Yadav said they will constitute a technical committee to prepare a comprehensive policy while considering all concerns discussed at the F&CC meeting. Thereafter, a report will be tabled accordingly. “A major chunk of MC’s expenditure is on water supply, and recovery is not even half of it. Without increasing water tariff, it is difficult to even bring reforms in reducing non-metering losses and water leakages,” an official said. -PTC News
