VISAKHAPATNAM : Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) commissioner J Pravin Kumar announced that water tax would be increased for all the categories of water users in the city this year to meet the growing expenditure. He convened a meeting with the bulk, semi-bulk and residents of various apartments and informed them about the proposal for an increase in the water tax.
With the merger of Anakapalle and Bheemili municipalities in the GVMC, there has been a yawning gap between demand and supply of water. “The GVMC has been investing huge amounts on the repairing works of major water pipelines in various parts of the city. Except for the 13th Finance Commission fund, we are not getting any financial help from both the Central and state governments,” explained Pravin. “Compared to other corporations in the country, the GVMC has been collecting only 36 per cent as water tax till now, which amounts to `155 crore of revenue against the total expenditure of `172 crore for supply of water,” he added.
