PESHAWAR, June 26: The Peshawar Cantonment Board (PCB) has raised its commercial water charge by 1,000 per cent, adding to the miseries of already price hike-stricken consumers.

The board authorities increased the water rate from Rs1,200 to Rs12,000 annually by June 2002 under Section 60 of the Cantonment Board Act, officials said.

According to the officials, commercial plazas, beauty parlours, salons, restaurants, hotels and service stations, located in the jurisdiction of the cantonment board, are being charged the new water rate, while the common consumers have been exempted from the recent upward revision in the rate.

Property owners in the PCB area have termed the raise an “undesirable” decision of the board authorities.

Naseer Khan, plaza owner in the Khyber Supper Market, complained to Dawn that “we have been left with no option, but to increase the rents. The biggest building owners, like State Life, will be paying Rs12,000 and a man who has a small commercial flat will also pay the same amount.”

The officials said the water rate had been raised to generate more revenue. An official concerned said that at present, the board recovered over two million rupees annually under the head of commercial water charge. After the upward revision of the rate, the board would generate around Rs10 million.

According to the rules, he said, the board had to revise its rates every after three years. He added that the commercial sector had denounced the raise and that the authorities were receiving complaints.