The Hindu 26.08.2009
Slum-dwellers plan protest for water
Staff Correspondent
| It will be held on Friday by samiti |
Public taps in the slums of twin cities are being removed: samiti
‘It is the responsibility of the HDMC to provide free water to slum-dwellers’
HUBLI: Slum-dwellers in Hubli and Dharwad will lay siege to the office of the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) in Dharwad on August 28 seeking steps for providing public water taps in their slums.
The protest will be staged under the aegis of “Hubballi- Dharwad Kolageri Nivasigala Samanvaya Horata Samiti” which is spearheading the agitation against the move to privatise water supply.
Addressing presspersons here on Tuesday, samiti adviser Ramanjanappa Aldalli and convenor Nabi Rasul Nadaf said that the public taps in slums were being removed and slum-dwellers who had taken water connections were being asked to pay water bill arrears.
Mr. Ramanjanappa said that some employees of the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWSDB) had threatened the slum-dwellers of seizing their property for non-payment of pending water bills. The slum-dwellers were not aware on what basis the pending water bills were being calculated, he added.
Mr. Nadaf said the slum-dwellers, who had individual water connections, were ready to pay for water if it was affordable. The KUWSDB officials had been issuing contradicting statements on the amount to be paid for regularisation of water connections. This had caused confusion among the slum-dwellers, he said.
Mr. Aldalli said that it was the responsibility of the HDMC to provide free water to slum-dwellers. However, on the pretext of taking steps to provide round-the-clock water supply, the public taps were being removed, causing hardship to poor people, he added.
Channavva Balappanavar of Laxmisinganakeri said that she had been asked to pay Rs. 12,000 towards pending water bills.
Mr. Aldalli said through the protest the samiti would urge the HDMC to provide more public taps in the slums in Hubli and Dharwad, fix low water tariff for slums and withdraw the pending water bills issued to slum-dwellers.
