Mayor rejects agendas for hike in water tariff, parking fees

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 22

While rejecting the proposals for a hike in the water tariff and parking fees, Asha Kumari Jaswal, Mayor, has decided not to allow agendas to be placed in the first meeting of the general house scheduled for January 24.

Sources said while the officers were in favour of a hike in the tariff and wanted that the agendas should be placed in the next House meeting, the Mayor put her foot down. The officers wanted the increase as the water tariff has not been hiked for years. Likewise, the parking fees have also not been hiked for the past few years.

The sources said the MC official prepared the proposal as the civic body required fund for the development of the city.

The city will also have to generate revenue to meet the conditions to get funds under the AMRUT scheme and the Smart City project.

The sources said the proposal had been prepared to improve consumption and water distribution in the city. One of the officers of the MC said the gap between the operational cost and the revenue was increasing which had become a burden on the MC. The city is receiving 87 million gallons of water daily (MGD) against the demand of 116 MGD. The MC prepared a revised tariff plan that will affect only those residents who are consuming more water.  

Northern sectors in the city consume more water than the southern sectors. The northern sectors are using more than 1,000 litre of water per person against the national norm of 135 kilolitre per day. 

The  MC has   proposed an increase in the parking rates with the aim of generating  more revenue. A hike from Rs 5 to  Rs 20 has been proposed for cars, and from Rs 2 to Rs 10  for two-wheelers. Parking lots in many sectors are lying vacant, causing a loss to the  MC.