The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board
(HMWS&SB) whose financial health is weak, wants a lion share of 25
per cent from infrastructure development fee collected by the Greater
Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) for taking up water and sewerage
infrastructure development in Hyderabad.

Faced with acute
financial problems, the water board has taken up the issue with the
state government and wanted them to see that 25 per cent of
infrastructure development fee collected by the GHMC is released to the
board. In the recently held board meeting, chief minister N Kiran Kumar
Reddy directed the chief secretary P K Mohanty to hold meetings between
the two civic departments to sort out the issue.

The water board
officials told Express that the board is finding difficult to arrange
funds for implementing various developmental activities, whereas the
GHMC is collecting infrastructure development fee, impact fee, etc, but
not spending on infrastructure development for water supply and sewerage
in the Greater Hyderabad limits.

They said that the GHMC is
collecting developmental charges and betterment charges between Rs 275
and Rs 400 per sq. mt for sanctioning building permission to residential
and commercial buildings. The GHMC is collecting about Rs 400 crore per
annum under the above heads.

The GHMC is collecting impact fee
(as per GO Ms 766 of 2007) and city level infrastructure impact fee for
high rise buildings from Rs 200 to Rs 400 per sq. ft depending on road
width. Also value addition charges are being collected for Cyberabad
Zone.

In this connection the water board wanted the state
government to work out a suitable formula to ensure that infrastructure
development fee is spent on water supply and sewerage also. For a 267
sq. yds plot with 446 sq. mts built up area for residential purpose
charges to be paid to GHMC are about Rs 1.22 lakh and for 15 mm
connection charges are Rs 23,000. For an MSB in 500 sq. mt plot with
built up area of 1,000 sq. mt for residential purpose, an amount of Rs
5.75 lakh has to be paid to the GHMC while Rs 2.25 lakh has to be paid
to water board for 20 mm connection. For high rise buildings charges to
be paid to the GHMC increase further, whereas charges levied by water
board remain the same, they said.

The GHMC officials said that though the issue came up for discussion in the last board meeting, no decision was taken.