BENGALURU: Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has decided to hike the pro-rata charges and the infrastructure costs for Greater Bengaluru only from February 15.
Following stiff opposition from the public whose applications for new water and sanitary connections are in the midst of being processed and advice of the State Law Department, BWSSB has finalised this date.
It may be recalled that on January 13, BWSSB had announced that the hike in pro-rata (one-time payment for water and sanitary connections) and the Greater Bangalore Water Supply and Sanitation Project (GBWASP) charges for newly added BBMP areas would be implemented with immediate effect.
Following BWSSB’s announcement about the hike on January 13, the Water Board office has been inundated with calls from members of the public and by some in person, complaining vociferously against the sudden announcement.
Background
It may be recalled that BWSSB has decided upon effecting a 67 per cent hike in GBWASP charges as well as pro-rata charges for individual houses (from ground-plus two storeys only) 100 per cent hike for multi-storey apartments and commercial establishments. The new rates will be `250 per sqmt for individual houses, `400 for apartments and `600 per sqmt, for multi-storey and commercial buildings, respectively.
“The hike has been announced now only after 2008. We will not call it a major hike when you consider the inflation and the fact that prices of everything else had gone up substantially in the interim period,” a top official told Express, justifying the hike.