GUJRAT: The Gujrat Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) has increased the water supply bill of its about 60,000 consumers up to 100pc besides imposing Rs150 sewerage charges on every consumer.

Residents of Gujrat, Jalalpur Jattan, Kunjah and Shadiwal towns have protested against the decision, demanding the TMA withdraw it.

The TMA would earlier charge at least Rs450 every six months from its water supply consumers and the amount has now been doubled as the consumers received the enhanced bill of Rs900 this time which they have to pay by Dec 31. Besides, for the first time in the history of Gujrat municipality services, the TMA has imposed a new tax of Rs150 as sewerage bill which is included in the water supply bill and each consumer will have to deposit at least Rs1,050.

The citizens of the four major towns of the Gujrat Tehsil lodged a strong protest against the increase in the water supply charges and termed it an increased burden on the budget of every household.

Scores of the consumers belonging to Gujrat and Shadiwal towns lodged protest at the TMA office before the officials concerned.

A protest meeting of citizens was held at Jalalpur Jattan where the representatives of all the political parties, including that of the ruling PML-N, as well as the civil society rejected the increase in the water supply bill and imposition of sewerage tax. The participants in the meeting demanded the authorities withdraw the TMA’s decision.

Some 42,000 out of the 60,000 consumers of the TMA’s water supply service belong to Gujrat city whereas rest of them are from Jalalpur Jattan, Kunjah and Shadiwal towns.

The district government of Gujrat had earlier on proposed a scheme of installing the solar panels for the water supply motors of the TMA but the allocation of funds by the Punjab government is still awaited despite approval of the scheme.

Gujrat Tehsil Municipal Officer Khuram Tarehngi told Dawn the TMA had not increased water supply bill for so many years and even after increasing the bill by 100pc, it still had to provide Rs120m subsidy annually to its water supply consumers as the annual cost of the electricity for running water supply motors had been around Rs180m whereas the TMA was receiving not more than Rs30m.

When asked about the justification of imposing a new tax in the name of sewerage charges, he said that it was for improving the sanitation arrangements by the civic agency. He said that as per municipality rules, the civic agency could charge the water supply bill on no profit, no loss basis according to which the entire electricity bill should be charged from the consumer as was being done by the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) in major cities.

He said the cost of electricity had increased by manifold during the last several years but the TMA had not enhanced the bill until now.

Published in Dawn December 16th , 2014