After the increase in fuel prices and RTC fares, city dwellers will now have to pay more for water as the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) increased water charges across all categories.
From December 1
The new tariff will be applicable from December 1. Accordingly, domestic consumers, paying a monthly bill of Rs. 293.50 for consuming 16 to 30 kilolitres, will now have to pay Rs. 460.50.
Similarly, those in the zero to 15 kilolitres domestic consumption category will have to pay Rs.212 against the previous bill of Rs.131.50. Even slum dwellers will have to shed extra as their charges have been increased from Rs.131.50 to Rs.151.75.
No revised since 2002
Water charges were not revised since 2002 and it was inevitable to increase now. Power charges had increased subsequently and the Board's monthly expenditure had also gone up.
Production costs
The production cost, which was Rs. 14.40 per kilo litre in 2002 had now increased to Rs. 25.50 per kilo litre, said Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board Managing Director Adhar Sinha at a press conference here on Friday.
The Metro Water Board incurred a monthly expenditure of about Rs.53 crore and there was a deficit of Rs.16 crore due to poor revenue collection and other issues, the Managing Director said.
Operational costs
“The new rates will help us meet operational and maintenance cost and measures will be taken to reduce deficit,” Mr. Sinha said.
On increasing the water charges without improving water supply, he said a special drive would be taken up to monitor quality, supply timing, and pressure.
‘Prajavani' programmes would be conducted from Monday between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the division and the circle office levels to address consumers' problems, he said. It was not just the domestic sector, water charges were also increased for commercial and industrial categories as well. A water tanker charge for domestic sector would be Rs. 400 per 5 kilolitre and for non-domestic Rs. 515 per 5 kilolitre.
