The Times of India          08.01.2014

Water authority seeks Rs 100cr financial aid from state govt

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Reeling under financial crisis, the Kerala water authority (KWA) has sought a monetary aid of Rs 100 crore from the state government.

In a letter to the additional chief secretary of water resources department, KWA managing director Ashok Kumar Singh sought Rs 50 crore for giving pension arrears and another Rs 50 crore to be paid to contractors who undertook KWA 's maintenance works.

The water authority has to pay Rs 64 crore to various contractors. "As the payment is pending, contractors are showing reluctance to take up new works. This will gravely affect the water supply projects in the coming days," the letter said.

KWA had received Rs 198.65 crore as non-plan grant in the financial year 2013-14. However, around Rs 40 crore had to be paid to the KSEB towards pending electricity charges. After meeting other expenses, the water authority now has only Rs 20.24 crore remaining for the next four months.

While the revenue generated by the KWA from water tariff is Rs 23.50 crore, monthly electricity charges comes upto Rs 20 crore. It requires Rs 37 crore to pay salaries, pensions and to run office. Maintenance costs for various water supply projects, instalments of loans etc also comes to a considerable amount due to which it is forced to use a major portion of the non-plan grant for running the department. Pension arrear is another major concern. Rs 50 crore is pending since 2009.

The KWA's proposal for a 100 % hike in water tariff was recently shelved by the state government. Earlier in June last year, it had submitted a proposal to allot Rs 75 crore as financial assistance. However, the government has not allotted the fund.

Meanwhile, the KWA pensioner's organization has decided to stage a dharna in front of the Jalabhavan on Thursday, demanding immediate disbursal of pension arrears pending since 2009. Former water resources minister N K Premachandran will inaugurate the protest.