LAHORE, May 1: Residents of the Defence Housing Authority have appealed to Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and Chief Minister Dost Muhammad Khosa to take note of the exorbitant increase in water and sewerage charges by the authority.

Mr Gilani owns a house in the B-block and Mr Khosa in the Z-block of DHA.

A number of residents said on Thursday the DHA had increased the charges without any prior notice. They paid 46 per cent more for water and sewerage for Jan 1 to March 31, 2008, quarter than the Oct 1 to Dec 31, 2007, quarter.

However, all except Mrs Ameena wished not to be named. Mrs Ameena recalled that when she purchased a plot in J-Block some 25 years ago, it was a co-operative housing society.

“During the second tenure of the PML-N when Nawaz Sharif was prime minister and Shahbaz the chief minister, the society was made an authority and the administration started fleecing residents on one pretext or the other. In the days of the society, the management at least increased the charges after taking the representatives of the residents into confidence. They first started charging Rs1,200 a month in the name of street wardens and now they have increased the water and sewerage charges. I paid Rs915 in January and Rs1,343 in April on account of water and sewerage charges,” she said.