The Chandigarh administration on Wednesday hiked water tariffs in the range of Rs 3 per kilo litre to Rs 20 across various slabs. The revision in water tariff comes after a gap of 11 years and will come into effect from April 1.
According to the new tariff rates, on a slab of 0-15 Kilo litres (KL) of water, there will be an increase of Rs 3 per KL, whereas in the category of 16 to 30 KL water there will be a spike of Rs 6 per KL.
The new tariff rates show a hike of Rs 10 per KL for 31 to 60 KL water and an increase of Rs 20 per KL for water consumption above 60 KL.
The Chandigarh administration stated that the rate hikes were done after a detailed discussion with all stakeholders and keeping in view the financial interest of the Municipal corporation of the Union Territory (UT).
The tariff rates in the Union Territory (UT) were last revised on 24 May 2011, and since then the cost of water supply and additional infrastructure have increased manifolds, leading to continuous losses to the civic body, added the administration in an official statement.
It further informed that despite the hikes in the water tariff rates, water supply and sewerage sectors will still face losses of more than Rs 80 crore annually.
It further emphasized that the tariff rates in the category of 0-15KL and 16-30KL are even lower, as compared to Punjab and Haryana.
" The water tariff rates in the higher category in Chandigarh are much lower than Delhi i.e. Rs. 10 KL, Rs. 20 KL vis-a-vis Rs. 43.93 KL. The sewerage cess in Chandigarh is 30 per cent of water volumetric charges is also much lower than Delhi, which is at 60 per cent," said the UT administration.
" The rates in higher slabs have been fixed to prevent misuse of potable water. A compliance mechanism with coercive measures will also be adopted for any violations of the norms," it added.
The statement also said, " With many improvements that we are undertaking, our supply duration is now over 10 hours per day and we are striving to provide a 24 hours water service to our city residents in the near future."
(With inputs from ANI)
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