Indian Express 10.08.2010
Civic body a divided house
Express News Service Tags : water Posted: Tue Aug 10 2010, 04:12 hrs
Chandigarh: The councillors and officials of the Municipal Corporation are divided over the hike in water tariff. The officials are of the opinion that a hike should made to make up for losses but councillors are against it.The proposal prepared by the officials that was withdrawn from the House had stated that there needs to be a hike of around 60 to 70 per cent to recover losses. The Centre had recently reminded the Municipal Corporation about increasing the tariff. This is one of the reforms for getting grants under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The agenda is likely to come up for discussion in the House this month.
The elected representatives are, meanwhile, not keen on the proposal. They are of the opinion that if any hike has to take place, it should be minimal. While this would ensure that the condition of implementation of reforms is fulfilled, it would not put much burden on residents.
Congress councillor Pardeep Chhabra says, “Hike in water tariff is necessary as otherwise the grant for JNNURM would be stopped. This would affect the projects running under the scheme. The hike would not be very high. The agenda that was proposed by the officials earlier would be changed. The lowest slab would remain untouched. The higher ones would see a slight increase. The hike in tariff would help curb wastage of water.”BJP councillor Sarita Devi says that there is no need to put burden on residents. She added that the councillors of the party would oppose any such move. Municipal Commissioner Roshan Sunkaria, meanwhile, says they have proposed a hike that would help cover the financial losses of the civic body. It is after discussion in the House that the final hike would be decided
