The Times of India 28.08.2012
Mangalore City Corporation council gives nod for 24x7 water supply scheme
MANGALORE: The Mangalore City Corporation warmed up to the idea of implementing 24x7 water supply scheme on its own with maintenance rights vested in private players at the monthly meeting of its council on Monday. The civic body will retain sole rights over water tariff fixation on lines with similar successful initiative taken in Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation where the project was rolled out on a pilot basis with World Bank assistance.This issue has been hanging fire for nearly two years over fears that inviting private players to implement the scheme would bring about an inevitable hike in water tariffs, which would be a politically unpopular move with elections to civic body round the corner.
While the ruling BJP and main opposition Congress were for the scheme, independent corporator Mariamma Thomas wanted greater clarity on how the scheme would be implemented.It was an initiative by commissioner K Harish Kumar to convince the corporators that the state government is keen to see the scheme announced in this year's state budget get off the ground with due approval from the council that brought the corporators on board, albeit with sense of reservation. Mariamma Thomas was blunt in saying that a similar enthusiasm to implement KUDCEM project with ADB assistance had brought nothing but grief to the city.It was wording of the agenda on the issue which irked members most for it created more confusion about the scheme rather than clarify it.
Harish Kumar while agreeing to this lapse informed members that the old modalities that was in vogue and which had erroneously crept into the day's meeting agenda no longer holds good and the city corporation will invest in the scheme with its internal resources and also obtain financial assistance from banks.Premanand Shetty, chief whip who presented the agenda too echoed this view. The bottom line of the arrangement will be the fact that the civic body would determine the water tariff and private players would only focus on the maintenance, he said. Incidentally, minister for urban development S Suresh Kumar had reiterated this very fact of civic bodies determining tariffs when he held an interaction meeting with the corporators on Saturday.
