By IANS,
New Delhi : Water tariff in the national capital will be hiked by over 50 percent from January 2010, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit announced Tuesday, adding that steps would be taken to cut distribution losses.
“New domestic water rates will come into effect from Jan 1. According to the new tariff, people will have to pay Rs.2 per kilolitre for the first ten kilolitres, Rs.3 in the 10-20 kilolitre slab, Rs.15 in the 20-30 kilolitre slab and for every kilolitre above 30 people will have pay Rs.25,” Dikshit told reporters here.
“The government was not charging money for consumption of water till six kilolitres but now it will be charged,” Dikshit said, adding that the tariff for water had not been increased for five years.
The tariff for industrial or commercial use of water has also been increased. Sewerage charges for hotel, guest houses, hospitals and nursing homes, banquet halls, cineplexes and malls have also been increased.
The new hike would also include a 10 percent increase in sewer maintenance charge.
The reasons for the hike are additional expenses on providing water to outer Delhi and newly developed areas, the Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendations for higher pay-scales to employees, and increased expenses on infrastructure like pipes and electricity.
“Many development projects have been initiated to upgrade the water management infrastructure of the city, to set up systems related to sourcing, treatment and distribution of water, and treatment of waste water. The hike in water tariff will not only aid in the speedy development of these projects but will also ensure disciplined use of water,” Dikshit said.
The chief minister clarified that the Delhi government is not doing away with water subsidy completely but just lowering it.
The average middle class family in Delhi consumes about 20 kilolitres of water per month, according to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) estimates.
Dikshit held that despite the raise, water prices in Delhi will be lower than in other cities like Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore.
The hike, she said, would ease losses incurred by the DJB by Rs.300-400 crore (Rs.3-4 billion).
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, termed the tariff hike as an unfair measure against Delhiites.
“It is because of the carelessness and inefficiency of the government controlled DJB that there is widespread theft and leakages of water. Instead of stopping such malpractices, the government is choosing to to penalise the people of Delhi,” said BJP leader V.K. Malhotra in a statement here.
Delhiites also expressed their displeasure at water tariff hike.
“The Metro, bus fares and electricity tariff were recently increased. Now water tariff is hiked. The government does not want poor people like us to stay here,” said Sarvesh Gupta, a resident of Mandawali area.
“In south Delhi, the water shortage is very serious. What is the meaning of this water tariff hike? It is nothing but a cruel joke with us,” said Varun Raheja, a resident of south Delhi.
To cut in-transit losses, the DJB has completed a two-dimensional mapping of the entire supply and distribution network to identify and plug leakages.
Dikshit added: “We had started a campaign asking people to get water metres installed. However, we did not get a good response. The last date to get water metres is Dec 31. Otherwise we will have to take some steps which we don’t want to.”
The number of consumers has also increased from one million in 1998 to 1.8 million in 2009, she noted.