Solan MC’s water liability soars to Rs 137.79 cr

In the absence of regular payment, the liability of Solan Municipal Corporation (MC) towards the Jal Shakti Department has climbed to Rs 137.79 crore.

“The JSD, which supplies water to the MC, has been regularly communicating with the MC to clear its dues, but to no avail,” said JSD Superintending Engineer Sanjeev Soni. When bills are raised on a quarterly basis only partial payment is made by the civic body, he added.

The MC staff, who are awaiting transfer of the water distribution work to the JSD after a Cabinet decision in August, are dejected as little has been done to implement the decision.

Once the Cabinet decision is implemented, it will reduce financial burden on the MC as it has to pay crores every month to the JSD for supplying water. On August 1 last year the state Cabinet had decided to entrust the task of water distribution to the JSD in Solan following representations by councillors.

Presently, the supply is being looked after by the JSD while water is distributed by the MC. This entails a double monetary burden on the civic body, which was already grappling with a financial strain owing to limited resources as residents pay water under varying rates.

The water tariff was raised nearly fourfold — from Rs 27.71 per kilo litre (PKL) to Rs 100 PKL — under a notification issued by the Jal Shakti Department on September 21, 2024. The hike was applicable to the Solan civic body too. The officials decided not to charge the higher amount from the residents though their own liability continued to mount as the JSD charged them as per the new rates.

Though water dues were regularly collected from the residents, only a partial payment was made to the JSD as funds were used for other expenditures in the civic body, sources said.

With residents being charged under varying rates in the civic body area, the disparity has been flagged time and again though little has been done to resolve the issue so far. Several rural areas were merged with the MC in 2020 when it was upgraded from a municipal council.

Two parameters have been adopted for working out water charges in the MC area. While Rs 29 per 1,000 litres is charged in majority wards, residents of the newly merged areas as well as some other wards like Ward 1, pay Rs 13 per 1,000 litres. Water charges are revised every year in April. In areas where the JSD directly supplies water, the department charges Rs 13.82 per 1,000 litres.

The residents fear that once the JSD takes over citywide distribution, the new slab-based tariff may be implemented, ranging from Rs 19.30 to Rs 33.28 per 1,000 litres for higher usage, leading to an eventual hike.