Kolhapur: The city’s civic administration has proposed a hike in the water tax rates by 25% for all types of customers for the coming year of 2019-20.The proposal made by the civic administration is scheduled to come up for discussion in the general body meeting that is to be held on Tuesday. It is likely that the corporators are going to turn down the proposal to hike the water tax rates payable by all manner of customers by 25%.However, the civic authorities claims that since there has been no hike in the water tax charged for the last six years and because the expenses involved in managing the water supply system of the city is increasing, there is an urgent need for the hike in the water tax rates so that the supply system can operate in a seamless manner.Prashant Pandat, the water tax superintendent of the KMC said, “The expenses of managing the water supply system are increasing by at least 10% every year, which means that the expenses involved in managing the water supply system has increased by 60% in the last six years and the cost is becoming unbearable for the civic administration. The water supply is an essential service and it can’t be stopped even though the department is currently running under a deficit. We expect the proposal to hike the water tax rates to be accepted. Earlier, in 2016-17 we had proposed increased water taxes which would have been different for various types of customers. Now, we have proposed a flat increase of 25% in the tax rate.”With an increase of 25%, the civic administration expects an increase of revenue through water tax to reach Rs50 crore for 2019-20. Every year, the water tax department faces a shortfall of around Rs10 crore in addition to the deficit that is caused due to an increase in the expenses over manpower as well as electricity bills. The officials claim that most of the revenue that is generated through the water tax is spent on the electricity bills and since the last couple of years the expenses over repair works has also seen an increase. The citizens are also going to face an increase in the sewage management tax, which is levied based on the amount of water consumption by the customer.“We are not dependent on any other sources to manage the water supply system. We have undertaken the task to lay down the pipelines in the unconnected areas and therefore, the expenses are going to increase further. We have initiated action against those having illegal water connections and water tax defaulters, which will help us recover the dues as well as help in bringing down the deficit,” said Pandat.

Stay updated with all the Latest Kolhapur headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.