The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Water-charge collection goes up

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Friday, Dec 26, 2008
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Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

Water-charge collection goes up

Staff Reporter

Collection in Ernakulam city and adjoining suburbs goes up by over Rs.1.2 crore

Water Authority begins drive to collect dues
Adalat planned to settle disputes regarding water supply, billing

KOCHI: The water-charge collection in Ernakulam city and adjoining suburbs has gone up by over Rs.1.2 crore in the last two months. Usually, the collection is about Rs.1.8 crore a month. Since the Kerala Water Authority began a drive to collect dues, the collection went up to about Rs.3 crore in November.

“Water-charge collection has increased by over 50 per cent because of the action taken against those who defaulted on payment and due to the efforts taken to solve disputes in charges,” said Solomon Fernandes, chief engineer, Central Zone. KWA took up the collection drive as its dues to the Kerala State Electricity Board mounted. The drive included disconnection of water supply for customers who had long pending dues.

According to a KWA official, they took strong steps to make the customers realise that water was a chargeable commodity. Though the expenditure for supplying treated water to households has increased manifold, the water charges had not increased accordingly, said the official.

Adalat

KWA plans to organise an adalat in February to settle disputes regarding water charges, especially those which have been pending for years. The authority has plans to organise adalats more frequently to solve the disputes that hold back revenue, said Mr. Fernandes.Consumers can raise issues regarding supply of water, billing and so on at the adalat.

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