The Hindu 09.11.2013
Siddaramaiah allows BWSSB to take a call on water tariff hike
‘Hike imminent as board needs revenue for taking up projects’
Be prepared to pay more for your daily Cauvery water
supply. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday cleared the decks for an
upward revision of water tariff by authorising the Bangalore Water
Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) to take a decision on the hike at its
next meeting.
Highly placed sources in the Urban Development (UD) Department told
The Hindu
that the file pertaining to the water board’s proposal on water tariff
hike, which was with the Chief Minister, was sent back to the department
on Friday with a note stating that the BWSSB could take a decision in
this regard.
Sources said when the water tariff was
revised in 2006, the government had directed the board to take a
decision on hiking water charges as and when power charges were hiked.
“However, the board did not take this direction seriously and had
repeatedly sought the government’s permission to revise water charges.
Although power tariff had been hiked several times, water charges had
not been revised since 2006,” the sources said.
“The
board, which met two days ago, is likely to meet again in the next 15
days to decide on the tariff hike. The hike is imminent now as the board
requires more revenue for taking up new projects and operating and
maintaining existing ones,” the sources said.
Meeting on supply
Meanwhile,
the Chief Minister convened a meeting of city MLAs and MPs and
officials from BWSSB, BBMP and BDA at his home office Krishna on Friday
to discuss issues relating to water supply and sanitation in the city.
After
the MLAs pointed out that staff shortage in BWSSB was affecting the
citizens indirectly, the Chief Minister directed the BWSSB to recruit
the required staff within six months, according to sources.
The
Chief Minister directed the officials to check water wastage,
especially the 48 per cent of water that goes unaccounted for. “If this
wastage is checked, we will have additional water to meet the city’s
requirement,” the Chief Minister said.
Manual scavenging
Taking
serious note of reports regarding manual scavenging on the city’s
outskirts, the Chief Minister directed the BWSSB to use machines to
clean manholes and sanitary lines. There should be one jetting machine
for every ward, he said.
According to sources, the
MLAs pointed out that the board owed nearly Rs. 170 crore to Bescom
towards power charges of borewells. Officials urged the Chief Minister
to either get the amount waived or release additional grants to BWSSB to
clear this.
The Chief Minister, who was informed
about the drinking water crisis in the 110 villages that were added to
the erstwhile BMP along with the seven city municipal councils and one
town municipal council, assured the board that the Irrigation Department
would allocate additional water from the Cauvery for drinking purposes.
He
asked the officials to prepare a detailed project report at the
earliest on water supply and under ground drainage system in these
villages.
