Haryana water tariff up 20%, bill shocker for consumers

CHANDIGARH: Water tariff has jumped 20% for nearly 6 lakh household, commercial, industrial, institutional, and group housing society consumers in more than 400 sectors of the 43 urban estates developed by Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP), who were in dark until the first week of February when bills started coming with revised rates.
The most-affected cities are Faridabad, Gurgaon, Sonipat, Bahadurgarh, Jhajjar, Ambala, Karnal, Panipat, Kaithal, Jind, Rohtak, Hisar, Fatehabad, Sirsa, where the HSVP has urban estates. The HSVP said the hike was justified since its maintenance cost had increased and it must also check the misuse of non-potable water’s fresh supply for industrial, gardening, and construction purposes.
An official said: “The hike was pending for more than three years, while the rates are increased after five to seven years.”
Confronted, Haryana assembly speaker Gian Chand Gupta claimed to be unaware of the development. He said: “I’ll call up the officials and my area’s RWA (resident welfare association) to discuss the issue.” He represents Panchkula, which is of the HSVP sectors largely. The resident bodies claim the hike to be “breach of trust by the government”. Approved in the HSVP’s board meeting of 2018, the hike was rolled back after protests that year and withdrawn in 2019. This time, the hike was pushed quietly in the bills.
Subhash Papneja of Panchkula’s residents welfare body said: “In 2018, we had met the CM, since he is head of the HSVP, and he had then withdrawn the notice and promised to keep hike below 5%.”
An internal communication this January proposed the hike and the revised penalties for wastage in summer. The billing was based on Delhi Jal Board’s “telescopic” pattern, in which jumping one unit of slab will make the user pay the unit value of highest slab.