Anandpur Sahib residents petition Punjab CM regarding high water bills

Residents of Anandpur Sahib, which is hosting a grand event to mark the 350th martyrdom anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur, have submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann seeking rationalisation of their water bills.

The residents claimed they were being forced to pay the highest water bills in the state.

Gurdeep Singh, a resident, said the government had granted exemption from water bills to people whose houses were less than 5 marlas in area, but people in the city were paying Rs 300 to Rs 1,000 per month depending on their consumption of water. To add to it, water bills were being increased by 10 per cent every year, he said.

On the other hand, residents of most Municipal Councils and Corporations were getting water bills of Rs 50 per month, he said.

They alleged that they had petitioned various ministers and the district administration earlier regarding the high water bills, but the issue had not been resolved.

Sources said the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board was supplying water to Anandpur Sahib. There are just four cities in Punjab — Anandpur Sahib, Muktsar, Bathinda and Fatehgarh Sahib — where water supply is managed by the board, whereas in the other cities, it is being managed by local Municipal Councils. The local MCs have subsidised the water bills as per the Punjab Government policy. However, the board has not done so.

When contacted, local AAP MLA and Minister for Education and Public Relations Harjot Singh Bains said he would take up the matter with the CM. Hopefully, the water bills would be brought at par with the other areas of the state, he said.

The Executive Engineer of the Public Health Department, Harjit Pal Singh, did not respond to repeated calls and messages regarding the issue.

Anandpur Sahib Municipal Council president Harjeet Singh Jeeta said unlike other cities in Punjab, the water supply in the holy city was not under their control. "It is being managed by the Water Supply and Sewerage Board and we cannot decide on the water bills," he said.