MC panel proposes 2% annual hike in sewerage cess

Chandigarh: The water supply and sewerage disposal committee of the Chandigarh municipal corporation, led by mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla, in the presence of committee chairperson Sarbjit Kaur, on Friday proposed to increase sewerage cess by 2% every year. Interestingly, the move was opposed by BJP councillor and committee member Kuljeet Singh, saying that it would put an additional financial burden on the public. The proposal will now come up in the MC general house for approval.
A couple of years back, the BJP had even taken credit for decreasing sewerage cess from 30% of water usage to 20%. While proposing the hike in sewerage cess, it was stated that this increase is to ensure sustainable infrastructure maintenance.
BJP councillor Kuljeet Singh, while speaking to TOI, said, "The proposal to hike sewerage cess is not right as it would put a financial burden on the public. I did not support the agenda in the committee's meeting."
AAP's Jasbir Singh, who is also a member of the committee, said, "The BJP is trying to put a financial burden on the people by hiking the sewage cess, and it is being done at a time when this agenda was already rejected in the past. Instead of stopping the water leakages and penalising the defaulters, from where maximum revenue can come, BJP's Mayor is putting a financial burden on the public and we will not allow this."
AAP's Prem Lata, who is also a member of the committee, said, "Both top bodies of the MC, namely the general house and F&CC, have already rejected this agenda and therefore bringing this agenda again in the sub-committee shows BJP's mentality towards common people."
Box: Water connection in Lal Dora
The committee also approved the agenda to allot 2,563 temporary water connections to residents of Lal Dora and Phirni areas in the erstwhile 22 villages. Interestingly, this agenda was also taken up in the general house meeting last month and was approved too, but it was brought up before the sub-committee for discussion and approval. These water connections will be on a purely temporary basis.
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