The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Higher water, sewerage tariff fixed for suburbs

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Monday, Nov 24, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Higher water, sewerage tariff fixed for suburbs

A. Srivathsan and K. Lakshmi

As a result of opting for funding under JNNURM

CHENNAI: The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) has come as a boon to develop the infrastructure in the suburban areas of Chennai. However, it has also pushed the municipalities to fix higher water and sewerage tariff and connection charges in order to meet their share of the project cost.

Consequently, the water and sewerage tariff proposed by as many as 16 municipalities that have opted for funding under the JNNURM is more when compared to the tariff followed within Chennai city limits.

While the monthly water charges fixed by the Metrowater for consumers in the city start from a minimum of Rs.50, the minimum charge proposed by local bodies under the JNNURM scheme is Rs.60 to Rs.75 per month.

A municipal official at Madhavaram said while 35 per cent of the project cost would be met by the Central government, 15 per cent would be provided as grant by the State government. The urban local bodies have to contribute to the remaining share of the cost. “We have fixed water connection charges as Rs.5,000 for domestic and Rs.10,000 for industrial consumers to raise fund for the project cost,” the official said.

Similarly, Maduravoyal municipality has fixed sewer connection charges ranging between Rs.3,000 and 25,000 according to the users. However, consumers in the city covered by Metrowater pay relatively lesser charges to obtain water or sewerage connection, which ranges between Rs.5,000 to Rs.7,500.

An official of the Madhuravoyal municipality said, the tariff was determined on the available resources and loan amount to be repaid to financial agencies such as Tamil Nadu Urban Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation and Infrastructure Financial Services Limited.

The local body had borrowed for 4 per cent interest from a financial institution and the tariff was fixed based on the loan amount to be repaid. Unlike the network in the city, which was provided several decades ago, the network to be laid in the suburban areas is estimated on a higher project cost. “Our resources are limited and cannot afford to lower charges,” the official said.

An official of the Commissionerate of Municipal Administration said the proposed connection charges and water, sewerage charges were approved by the municipal council. They vary according to the resources available in the municipalitie. “The State government has allocated more grants to a few local bodies identified with poor resources,” the official said.

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