November 18th 2023.
Mumbai citizens are not happy about the recent proposal from the BMC to increase water charges. Congress and Samajwadi Party have taken a stand against the move by writing letters to the BMC administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal, demanding him to withdraw the proposal or they will take it to the streets.
Varsha Gaikwad, Mumbai Congress President, is of the opinion that the hike in water charges is an injustice to the citizens already facing inflation. She threatened to take the fight against the BMC to the streets if the BMC administrator does not withdraw his decision. Ravi Raja, former Opposition leader in the BMC and senior Congress leader added that since there are no corporators, the decision is directly taken by the BMC administrator without considering public view. He believes that the BMC should first ensure that the citizens get sufficient water.
Raees Sheikh, MLA, Samajwadi party has also written a letter to the civic chief, complaining about the BMC's decision to spend Rs. 1,700 crore on the beautification project and now trying to earn revenue from increasing water charges. He believes it is an injustice to the citizens.
In 2012, the BMC's Standing Committee gave the administration permission to increase the water tax not more than at the rate of 8% every year. Accordingly, every year from June 16, the administration implements a water tax hike. But considering the Covid-19 pandemic, taxes were not changed in 2020-21 and 2021-22. The BMC supplies 3,900 million litres of water to the city daily and spends thousands of crores of rupees every year in the maintenance of dams, water supply lines, water purification process and security of the dams.
With the civic body's decision to increase water charges, parts of Pune will experience water supply disruption on November 21. It is clear that the citizens are not happy with this decision and are taking a stand against it. It is up to the BMC to decide on this matter and take the citizens' views into consideration.
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