Free water to be on agenda of new Chandigarh Mayor’s first House meet

Sandeep Rana

Chandigarh, February 21

Residents may get 20,000 litres of free water every month as the new Mayor, Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), will bring an agenda in this regard while chairing his very first Municipal Corporation (MC) House meeting.

Confirming this, city AAP co-incharge Dr SS Ahluwalia said, “The agenda will be brought in our very first House meeting. We will keep the promise of providing free water to public in Chandigarh.” Dhalor, aka Tita, the AAP-Congress alliance candidate, was declared winner of the post of Mayor by the Supreme Court yesterday. It was during the MC elections in 2021 that AAP had promised this guarantee. The debutant party had won 14 seats.

It had made an attempt to get the guarantee through. The party in November 2022 tabled an agenda in the House meeting to provide zero bill for consumption of upto 20,000 litres of water to each household per month. But, it got stuck and never saw the light of the day.

After it is passed in the MC House, the agenda will be sent to the Secretary, Local Government, who is the UT Home Secretary, for the final nod. Ahead of General Elections, it is seen as a big poll plank that may have a major impact. In future, the party may also go ahead with its plan to offer free parking in all paid facilities. However, it will be interesting to see how the Congress reacts to the proposal.

A failed bid in 2022

• During the MC elections in 2021, AAP had promised to provide 20,000 litre of free water to each household. The debutant party had won 14 seats, the highest in the elections.
• In November 2022, the party made an attempt to get the guarantee through. It tabled an agenda in the House meeting to provide zero bill for consumption of upto 20,000 litres of water.
• However, it never saw the light of the day.