‘Request for review of proposed hike in water rates’by JS GOGIA
General Secretary_FOSWAC
We invite your kind attention towards our letter of even number dated 9th February, 2020 filing objections against the proposed increase in water rate. Since we did not hear any decision taken on this issue, we submitted another letter dated 13th September 2020 to your office with copies to the Hon’ble HH Governor Pb. and Administrator Chandigarh as well ascopy to the Adviser requesting to reconsider your decision favourably before implementation.
We at the platform of FOSWAC deliberated this issue in length with our federating members of ‘RWAs’ wherein it was felt that this arbitrary increase of 200% hike is ill conceived, unilateral and devoid of merit.
Since this issue was not resolved from several months, FOSWAC along with other organisations like ‘INTUC, AITUC, CITU, AICCTU & CTU’ held today a symbolic Protest March to put forth this issue before the administration, being a common cause and concerned with all the residents of city.
Primarily as we all know, water is the basic requirement and it is the duty of the MC to provide timely & clean water to the citizens.The residents are already paying hefty amount of house tax for the services being rendered by the MC. If at all it is to be increased, it should have been nominal hike every year. Three times arbitrary increase of the existing rate in one go has no justification what so ever may be.
While we do appreciate that the citizens should pay the taxes but the question arises, “How much taxes are to be levied on the citizens?”
It is pertinent to note that more than 60% of our earnings are robbed by the taxes which include income tax, GST, fuel petrol & diesel, excise, house tax, water & sewage tax, toll tax, parking electricity cess, cow cess and so on the list goes on.
It is not out of the way to mention that it is the city of mostly employees and retired people. They are already feeling the burden of existing heavy taxes.
There is a need to look forward some other ways, by which the losses on account of supply of water can be recovered as under:
MC should study the successful model of water supply in Delhi, wherein they are supplying water free of cost. The subsidy if any provided by the GOI should be utilised first before hiking the existing rates.
• The fact remains that the supply of water is inadequate of the requirement and below good quality which needs improvement before considering any hike if at all.
• Leakage of water in substantial quantity and ill- legal non meter supply to the colonies needs to be plugged.
• The people should be made aware about the judicial use of water.
• The underground water pipes are more than fifty years old and of less carrying capacity which is not enough to meet the increasing requirement of the city. These pipes need replacement before thinking to bring any new project for implementation.
• The arrears of water charges in crores are to be recovered from the govt. institutions and corporations. No concreate steps have been taken so far in this direction.
• The supply of tertiary water is inadequate, erratic and much below quality. The rates being charged are the same as of drinking water. There should be strict enforcement not to use the drinking water for irrigation purpose.
• The ten times requirement of northern sectors for irrigating lawns should be met strictly from the tertiary water.
• It is also not out of the way to mention that MC must involve RWAs in such decision making as they are representing the residents at the gross root level.
It will be grossly unfair to levy three times tax on water rate on the citizens of mostly retired people. Therefore, we the citizens of Chandigarh vehemently oppose this move of MC with request to kindly reconsider this issue sympathetically. We are sure you would kindly take into consideration the above mentioned facts before imposing the proposed hike in rates of water.
Thanking you.
Yours truly,
JS GOGIA
General Secretary_FOSWAC
