24X7 water to cost Chandigarh residents Rs 40 crore per year from 2029

Tribune News Service

Sandeep Rana

Chandigarh, March 15

Forget about MC House’s free water resolution, instead residents will brace for paying Rs 10 crore more per quarter in form of water bills from December 2029 to pay off Rs 412 crore loan taken for implementing 24x7 water supply.

Presenting the 24x7 water supply report in the House today, MC Commissioner Anindita Mitra told the House that the city has to pay Rs 40 crore per annum for 15 years to pay off the loan from December 2029. The amount will be paid by residents through increased water bills.

No additional staff for mayor

• Even as Mayor proposed to have four data entry operators, three clerks and one photographer for “Mayor Apke Dwar” campaign by creation of monitoring cell, MC chief did not allow it. Mitra said this cell already exists and no new posts can be created. “We already have staff and will adjust more from other wings,” she said. She also denied councillors personal staff as there was no entitlement for the same.

Protest over ‘rondu mayor’ remark

• AAP and Congress councillors on Friday rushed to the well of the house and protested after BJP councillors Kanwarjit Singh Rana and Manoj Sonkar called Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor “rondu mayor”. Both were suspended from the remainder session of the House. The BJP raised slogans of “rondu mayor”, while Congress councillors raised slogans of “vote chor BJP”.

Illegal vendors

• Councillors on Friday raised the issue of increasing illegal vendors and alleged sub-letting of spaces by some of them. The MC said they will do the needful.

Though some councillors raised objections, saying Chandigarh residents were not asked whether they want 24x7 water supply or not, but no alternative could be discussed or decided.

Mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor, however, said today’s meeting was only for knowing about 24x7 plan, now they will study and suggest measures.

BJP councillor Saurabh Joshi said, “It was a zero business House. Out of the four agendas tabled in the House, none could be passed or decided. INDIA bloc councillors are just wasting time and money of public.”

The commissioner said city consumes 245 liter per capita per day, while it should be 150 liter. That means water was being wasted, she said.

“It could be water theft, meter issues or leakage. Total leakage or wastage is 30% and it should be 15%... as per a survey, 1,200km pipelines were laid in city in 1960s. They are a criss-cross trap. Thus, leakage points do not get detected. Kajauli water works is very old. From 2019 to 2022, there are 25,000 complaints of leakages and 47 cr was spent on it,” she said.

“There were 1,315 contamination water complaints and 1,787 muddy water complaints in the past three years. There are issues of no proper water pressure on third floor. Thus, very inflated bills have to be paid. Keeping all this in mind, 24x7 water supply was planned in 2016 and it is under tendering process,” she said.

In this regard, an agreement was signed between the Municipal Corporation and the Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) with the support of the European Union in December 2022.

It is a Rs 510 crore project — Rs 412 crore in the form of AFD’s soft loan and Rs 98 crore as European Union’s grant. The loan will be paid by the residents in their monthly bills.

With this, there will be no wastage of water. Due to clear water supply, water-borne diseases like diarrhea and cholera can be curbed. Financial benefit will be there. Leakages could be identified and so on, she said.

As far as figures are concerned, in 2022-23, Rs 227 crore while earning was only 129 cr. In the current fiscal till now, Rs 244 cr was the expenditure, but only Rs 138 cr was recovered.

It may be mentioned here the INDIA bloc councillors passed an agenda to give 20,000 liter free water per household. It was rejected by UT Administrator Banwari Lal Purohit, who even wondered why the commissioner failed to even explain to them that it can’t be implemented.

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