April 26: The proposed hike in water rates is not likely to be implemented from May 1 as announced by BWSSB Minister Katta Subramanya earlier. The BWSSB is yet to receive an order from the government on the tariff hike.

BWSSB chairman P.B. Ramamurthy told Deccan Chronicle that no order has been received so far and so it would be difficult to implement the hike from May 1.

When contacted, Mr Naidu said: “We intend to implement the tariff hike but do not feel this is the right time to do it after receiving a host of opinions on the subject.” The hike will be enforced once summer is over, he said without indicating when it would happen. While the minimum rate was to be reduced from Rs 48 to Rs 36, the tariff was to go up with the utilisation of water. “The hike has been proposed due to the recent increase in the power tariff. With the city’s water sources 120 km away, BWSSB is spending Rs 33 to pump a kilolitre of water but is charging only Rs 9 per kilolitre from consumers. The board spends Rs 100 crore per month on the power utilised to pump water but the revenue from water bills is only Rs 48 crore”, said a BWSSB official