BENGALURU: Bengaluru Development Minister and DyCM DK Shivakumar reiterated that a hike in the water tariff in the city is “inevitable” as this was last done 11 years ago.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a Sarvodaya Day programme at the KPCC office on Thursday, Shivakumar said the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWWSB) has been incurring losses of Rs 1,000 crore per year. “The board also needs around Rs 6,000 crore to develop its network of pipelines. So, it is inevitable that the water tariff will increase,” he said.
At the programme earlier, he said the BJP is trying to erase Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy. “The BJP may not accept Gandhi’s philosophy yet they stage protests under the Gandhi statue. It was Gandhi who taught us the principles of non-violent protests. It was Gandhi who started the Swadeshi movement, but the PM is claiming credit for the Make in India initiative” he said.
Shivakumar said the government is planning to conduct the ‘Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan’ programme throughout the year to spread his message. “The CM may talk about implementation of the report submitted by the Gandhi Bharat Implementation Committee during the budget presentation. We have had discussions about this with the AICC also,” he said.