Mumbai residents can breathe a sigh of relief as the city's civic body has scrapped a proposed revision of water taxes, following directives from Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
As per the instructions given by the Chief Minister to civic chief I S Chahal to cancel the proposal for water tax revision submitted by the Hydraulic Engineering Department, the civic body is making it clear that there will be no increase in water tax this year, as per a statement issued by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday evening.
The BMC has stated that Mumbai receives a daily water supply of 3,950 million liters from seven reservoirs situated in Thane and Nashik districts. This water is transported to the city through a network of 150-kilometer-long pipelines and is subsequently distributed to households following the purification process.
The annual water tariff is determined by calculating all the infrastructure costs, maintenance and repairs, royalty charges, water purification and disinfection process, electricity costs, and establishment costs etc, it said.
The standing committee of BMC in 2012-13 approved a proposal to increase water tax by a maximum of 8 per cent and the municipal administration had been given powers in this regard. As per the policy, the department had proposed a hike in the water tax, as per the statement.