Award of pipeline contract to company illegal, say protesters

  • | Tuesday | 28th August, 2018

Protesters said the resolution was illegal.Protestors unanimously opposed the award of the parallel pipeline project to Aurangabad City Water Utility Company Ltd (ACWUCL). Ingle said the company, in its application to bank for loan, has shown the project cost at Rs 1,255 crore. Keeping this in mind, AMC should undertake the project of laying the pipeline from Jayakwadi to Aurangabad. Party members said that while Mumbai, Pune and Nashik are getting daily water supply with an annual water tax between Rs 1200 and Rs1400, people of Aurangabad are paying Rs 4050 annually towards water tax. And they get water merely 8-10 days a month.The party said the Right to Water is fundamental to a right to life itself.

Aurangabad: Amid the ongoing general body meeting, civic activists and members of All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) staged a protest against the privatisation of the parallel pipeline project outside Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) headquarters on Monday. Protesters said the resolution was illegal.Protestors unanimously opposed the award of the parallel pipeline project to Aurangabad City Water Utility Company Ltd (ACWUCL). Samanvay Sangarsh Samiti, led by activist Rahul Ingle, Gaffar Quadri, Bharat Gaikwad and others, put up a strong protest against the resolution, terming it unlawful.Gaffar Quadri said AMC is going against a legal resolution by bringing back the water utility company. Ingle said the company, in its application to bank for loan, has shown the project cost at Rs 1,255 crore. How this cost was arrived at is not clear – there was no approval of this cost by Central or state government or the municipal corporation.Members of the AAP demanded that hiked water taxes be scrapped. Party members said that while Mumbai, Pune and Nashik are getting daily water supply with an annual water tax between Rs 1200 and Rs1400, people of Aurangabad are paying Rs 4050 annually towards water tax. And they get water merely 8-10 days a month.The party said the Right to Water is fundamental to a right to life itself. Under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, every citizen is entitled to receive clean (potable) drinking water. Keeping this in mind, AMC should undertake the project of laying the pipeline from Jayakwadi to Aurangabad. Sidhharth Bansod, Ajabrao Mankar, Ashir Jaihind, Rameshwar Bharti from AAP led the protest.The Samanvay Sangarsh Samiti said that considering the 10% annual rise in the water tax and the current water tax of Rs 4,050, citizens will have to pay Rs 2400 crore to the water utility if the project realises. It demanded that the current water tax be lowered to the previous tax of Rs 1800 with immediate effect.Residents of slum areas, who do not have water pipeline connection and are supplied water through tankers, should be supplied water at Rs 450 a month instead of the current monthly charge of Rs 1200, Ingle said.

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