Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Admi Party’s populist schemes seem to be turning viral !. With AAP providing free water to the poor in the national capital, the demand for the same now echoed in the sate capital.
The Forum for Good Governance on Thursday felt that when AAP government could implement the free water scheme to the poor in New Delhi, the same facility could be extended even in Hyderabad by taking certain judicious measures like plugging water leakages, collecting huge water dues from government departments and private companies.
Addressing a press conference, the Forum’s Secretary M. Padmanabha Reddy, Vice-President Rao Chelikani and Joint Secretary S. Srinivasa Reddy explained that as per the international standards, 135 liters of water per day was required for every person, but the Hyderabad Water Board was providing hardly 80 liters per day per person and in summer the supply further gets depleted.
The Forum further pointed out that out of eight lakh water connections provided by the water board, bills for only five lakh connections were being paid. Apart from the big gap between water supplied and billed, about 30 percent of treated water under transit was getting wasted due to leakages. The water board claimed that it was incurring a loss of Rs.20 crores every month in water supply.
Water tax is also included in the property tax being paid by the citizens and as per the G.O Ms. No. 461 dated 16-7-2009 the GHMC has to return 25 percent of property tax collected by it to the water board. Since the GHMC collects annually Rs.1600 crores as property tax, 25 percent of it, that is Rs.400 crores has to be returned to the water board and this was not happening. If these Rs.400 crores are returned to the water board, it would not incur any loss, the Forum pointed out.
The Forum members further pointed out that if the 30 percent of wastage of water in the form of leakages during transit was plugged, not only there would be substantial improvement in water availability, but at the same time the revenue would also improve by 30 percent. Further another Rs.300 crore per annum could be saved if Discoms are directed not to treat water supply as a commercial activity and accordingly domestic rates should be made applicable to the power bills. Besides this, the dues from the government departments are to the tune of Rs.200 crores, and Rs.800 crores dues from private companies and citizens. If these dues are collected the water board would have surplus revenue, they observed.
As regards the supply of water free of cost to the poor, the Forum members explained that there were about 1.5 lakh connections in the slum areas and currently they were paying Rs.151 per month. If the water is supplied free of cost to these people, the burden on the water board would be Rs. 27 crore per year. If the water board collected all the dues, gets 25 percent share of property tax from GHMC and gets power connection modified from commercial to domestic and finally takes steps to stop 30 percent leakage, the water board could not only run in profit but could also ensure free water supply to the poor in the slum areas, the Forum members asserted. (NSS).