Aurangabad: Activist group Shahar Parivartan Aghadi has appealed to people against paying water tax. The group states that while the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has increased the water tax by 10%, taking the annual tax to Rs 4,477, the water is being supplied for only 90 days a year. Several residents have also advocated a balance between water tax and the supply.The city has been getting water supply once in five days since last summer. This frequency has further been reduced to once in six days this summer. As the requirement increases during the season, AMC’s poor supply management has forced people to pay hefty amounts of money to buy water from private tankers.Shahar Parivartan Aghadi’s Rahul Ingle has stated that instead of addressing the crisis, the AMC has increased the water tax by 10 per cent citing its by-laws which allows 10 per cent annual hike in water tax.“We have written to the municipal commissioner about the disparity in water tax and water supply. We have asked that the residents should only be charged for what they are provided, which is Rs 1,800 a year for 90-day supply. However, no response has been received yet,” Ingle said.The group has now decided to appeal to people through door-to-door visits and social media to not pay water tax as it is ‘dictatorial’.Senior citizen Seema Qureshi says that the services of the water supply department is far from satisfactory. “Elderly people like us are subjected to inconveniences due to irregular timings. We are only saying that charges should be imposed based on the quality of the service provided,” Quresho said.Sukhdev Shinde of Parijat Nagar says that despite being regular tax payer, he and his neighbours are receiving contaminated water by AMC for the last one year. “When called, the AMC staff did some digging but even yesterday we relieved drainage mixed water,” Shinde said.A letter issued by city engineer Sakharam Panzade to all ward offices in February mandates collection of water tax with hike of 10 per cent. The letter states that those who have collected the tax on old rate should give explanation for the same.Panzade said that the hike in water supply is according to the bylaws of the AMC. “A resolution has to be passed in GB and a letter has to be issued by the municipal commissioner if the hike has to be cancelled,” Panzade said.

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