CHANDIGARH: Weeks after residents across the state received inflated water bills, CM Manohar Lal Khattar has ordered the rolling back of the 25 per cent hike effected by the Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) on account of arrears, while directing the department to increase the bills only by 5 per cent for the current financial year.
Sources said the CM had now directed the HSVP to effect a 5 per cent hike in water charges, in keeping with the water bylaws from April 1 this year, since it would be unfair if arrears were raised without issuing a demand notice for the original amount. He asked the department to withdraw the demand raised in the bills received by residents for last month.
The HSVP had come under fire from residents for burdening them with “arbitrary” water bills ranging from Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 for 1-kanal houses and bills of nearly Rs 5,000 even for smaller houses. Vidhan Sabha Speaker Gian Chand Gupta had also, in a written communication, urged the CM to reverse the decision and reduce the substantially hiked tariff.
The sources said the inflated bills were a consequence of the HSVP’s decision of a proposed annual hike of 5 per cent in the tariff taken in 2018. However, this was shelved because of the pandemic. The department, in the bills sent for June this year, handed bills with arrears for the past four years, implementing the annual hike retrospectively.