Save water as tariff to go up by 3% every year

BHUBANESWAR: For urban Odisha residents, it is time they used water judiciously, lest it should pinch their pockets.  For, the State Government, which has decided to make domestic water supply connection mandatory under ULB limits across the State, is looking to follow the electricity way when it comes to tariff. Water tariff, under the proposed Odisha Water Utility (ULB) Rules, 2012, will rise automatically. The proposed rules will come in place of the existing Odisha Water Works Rules since former takes care of drinking water as well as waste water with its modern perception. While fixing tariff slabs for different categories of consumers, the Government has proposed that there will be an automatic hike across-the-board at the rate of 3 per cent every year. Under the Odisha Water Utility (ULB) Rules 2012, telescopic tariff will be levied on all categories of consumers. For both domestic and below poverty line (BPL) consumers, the tariff slab will be ` 4, ` 6 and ` 10 per kilo litre (KL) for domestic consumption up to 10 KL, 10 KL-25 KL and above 25 KL categories. Similar rates will be applicable for apartments taking into account the number of housing units. Government schools, colleges, universities, hostels and hospitals too will be charged at the domestic rate. However, institutional consumers’ tariff has been proposed at ` 10 and ` 15 per KL for monthly consumption up to 100 KL and above 100 KL respectively. Where metering of water supply is not possible due to technical reasons, the tariff will be based on the number of taps the consumer has. The first tap will be charged at ` 100 per month while each additional tap will cost ` 60. For BPL consumers in the non-metering group, it will be ` 40 for the first tap and ` 35 for each additional one. Since groundwater exploitation and wastage are a challenge for the urban local bodies, the State Government, while planning a 3 per cent raise annually, has also proposed that a Rate Revision Committee will take a call on the tariff every five years. The State Government has also asked the Urban Development Department to assess the benchmarks in other states on water tariff so that it can adopt their tariff and revision structure. The Law Department has been asked to formulate the necessary guidelines for implementation of the new rules.