Newskarnataka – Bangalore
Bangalore: A meeting held by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) on Wednesday May 14 took a decision to increase the water tariff.
The meeting was convened following the State government’s instructions that a decision on water tariff hike should be taken only after discussing the issue at the board meeting.
BWSSB chairman MS Ravishankar stated that the water tariff was hiked in 2002. In 2005, there was revision in a few places. Thereafter, there has been no revision in tariff. Due to this, the financial burden on BWSSB has increased. as the tariff of power has been hiked by BESCOM. Ravishankar said that BWSSB will ensure that people are not burdened too much.
“The BWSSB’s monthly revenue is Rs 45 crore. Electricity bills account for about Rs 20 crore of the expenditure. Even the maintenance costs are going up,” Ravishankar said, compelling the decision to hike the charges.
The revised water rates are as follows:
For Household
0 – 6000 liters has been hiked from Rs 6 to Rs12
6000 – 20000 liters has been hiked from Rs 9 to Rs 25
20000 – 40000 liters has been hiked from Rs 15 to Rs 35
40000 to 60000 liters has been hiked from Rs 30 to Rs 54
60000 to 80000 liters has been hiked from Rs 57 to Rs 80
For Commercial
0 – 6000 liters has been hiked to Rs 65
40000 liters has been hiked to Rs 70
60000 liters has been hiked to Rs 75
60000 and above liters has been hiked to Rs 80
The minimum chargeable consumption has been reduced to 0-6,000 litres from the existing 0-8,000 litres, according to sources of the Board.
There was a proposal earlier to hike the water tariffs but due to the Lok Sabha elections, approval was not given for the same. However the approval this time has been given by chief minister himself.
The Board caters to 7.2 lakh people across the City, supplying over 1,200 million litres daily. In addition, 60,000 people avail water supplied by BWSSB through tankers. According to instructions by the High Court, 110 villages are being provided free drinking water facility. With growing demand each year, the Board is said to be facing an annual loss of Rs 200 crore.
