RAWALPINDI, Aug 1: The Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) has collected Rs27 million in water charges under its ongoing campaign launched to recover outstanding dues, Dawn has learnt.

Previously, the RCB’s total collection under the head water charges never went above Rs6.8 million.

The RCB is supposed to recover Rs35 million in water charges annually. It will take a few years to reach this target, the RCB’s director water supply, Abdur Rehman.

According to sources, about 50 per cent of the cantonment residents do not pay their water bills. There are people who have not paid their bills for the last 15 years. But, now after the campaign, some of the big fishes have been caught and compelled to pay their dues which have been pending for so many years, the official said.

The cantonment board’s charges for water supply range from Rs50 per month to Rs150 per month. These charges are likely to be raised in the current budget as the RCB officials say the expenses on water supply are nine times more than the revenue.

The total expenses on water supply, including maintenance, development and staff salaries, reach about Rs100 million whereas its income from this sector is only Rs27 million.

An RCB’s water supply official said the prevailing rates had not been increased for the last six years and therefore a raise was due.

“The gap between the expenses and the collection cannot be bridged unless water rates are increased,” Mr Rehman said.

He said about Rs50 million in expenses were incurred only on electricity bills of 74 tubewells that the civic body operates in different localities of the cantonment.

The cantonment board, however, claims that the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) was overcharging it. Since there were no water meters installed, Iesco would send overbills on assumption. Now that the meters have been installed, overcharging will stop, sources said.

They said talks were also going on with Iesco officials for rationalizing these bills. Power charges will be brought to Rs30 million after rationalization, a water supply official said.