Gram Panchayats owe MCC Rs. 33 crore as water bill dues!

Mysore/Mysuru: The proposal tabled before the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Council to hike water tariff by at least 50 percent was slammed by Corporators. The proposal was tabled this morning by officers and a heated debate ensued. 

The MCC Council had called for the meeting at Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar Hall under the Chairmanship of Mayor Tasneem this morning to discuss certain unfinished issues in the last meeting that was held on Nov. 30. 

The proposal, tabled by officials of Vani Vilas Water Works (VVWW), the drinking water supply wing of the MCC, sought a minimum hike of 50 percent to 60 percent in water tariff in order to make-up Operation and Maintenance (O&M) cost which is presently being borne by the State Government. Officials claimed that the water tariff in Mysuru is lowest among Tier-II cities in the State. 

However, the proposal met with stiff opposition from Corporators who said that they will resist such a move by the MCC. 

Corporator K.V. Sridhar blamed the officials for loss in revenue collection. He asked the officers to first plug leakages, set right technical issues and also legalise all unauthorised water connections. 

“At a time when a metropolitan city, the nation’s capital New Delhi is offering free water, why can’t the same system be replicated in Mysuru,” he questioned. He demanded a roll back in the prices and said that due to the lethargic attitude of the officers and their subordinates there is a huge gap between water supply and revenue collection. 

Corporator S.B.M. Manju demanded a proper water audit before any decision on hiking the tariff is taken. The debate saw Corporators demanding an explanation from the officers as to why water is being supplied to villages that are beyond MCC boundaries like Hootagalli, Rammanahalli, Hinkal, Alanahalli and surrounding villages. 

“Thousands of gallons of water is supplied to these villages and the tariff is never collected,” they said. At this point, officers revealed that Gram Panchayats owe MCC Rs. 33 crore as water bill dues. This enraged the Corporators further and they demanded an explanation as to who authorised the MCC to supply drinking water to villages. 

The debate was on when we went to press. Meanwhile, the issue of underground drainage (UGD) cess cropped up where officers were asked to follow the Bengaluru model to levy UGD cess as per the slabs. If the building is bigger, higher cess must be levied. There cannot be a uniform cess, they argued. 

Mayor Tasneem chaired today’s meeting. Deputy Mayor C. Sridhar, MCC Commissioner Gurudatta Hegde and others were present.