Water Board Seeks Share of GHMC Fees

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) is financially weak, wants a lion share of 25 per cent from infrastructure development fee collected by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
Water Board Seeks Share of GHMC Fees

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) whose financial health is weak, wants a lion share of 25 per cent from infrastructure development fee collected by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) for taking up water and sewerage infrastructure development in Hyderabad.

Faced with acute financial problems, the water board has taken up the issue with the state government and wanted them to see that 25 per cent of infrastructure development fee collected by the GHMC is released to the board. In the recently held board meeting, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy directed the chief secretary P K Mohanty to hold meetings between the two civic departments to sort out the issue.

The water board officials told Express that the board is finding difficult to arrange funds for implementing various developmental activities, whereas the GHMC is collecting infrastructure development fee, impact fee, etc, but not spending on infrastructure development for water supply and sewerage in the Greater Hyderabad limits.

They said that the GHMC is collecting developmental charges and betterment charges between Rs 275 and Rs 400 per sq. mt for sanctioning building permission to residential and commercial buildings. The GHMC is collecting about Rs 400 crore per annum under the above heads.

The GHMC is collecting impact fee (as per GO Ms 766 of 2007) and city level infrastructure impact fee for high rise buildings from Rs 200 to Rs 400 per sq. ft depending on road width. Also value addition charges are being collected for Cyberabad Zone.

In this connection the water board wanted the state government to work out a suitable formula to ensure that infrastructure development fee is spent on water supply and sewerage also. For a 267 sq. yds plot with 446 sq. mts built up area for residential purpose charges to be paid to GHMC are about Rs 1.22 lakh and for 15 mm connection charges are Rs 23,000. For an MSB in 500 sq. mt plot with built up area of 1,000 sq. mt for residential purpose, an amount of Rs 5.75 lakh has to be paid to the GHMC while Rs 2.25 lakh has to be paid to water board for 20 mm connection. For high rise buildings charges to be paid to the GHMC increase further, whereas charges levied by water board remain the same, they said.

The GHMC officials said that though the issue came up for discussion in the last board meeting, no decision was taken.

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