Ludhiana MC stops distribution of hiked water and sewer bills in time for assembly polls

The fracas over hiked water and sewer bills came at a rather inconvenient time for the ruling party as the assembly elections are right around the corner. Realising that the hiked bills could be a hot-button issue, the civic body has been directed to stop distribution of water and sewer invoices for the time being.

The bills are issued to around 1.4 lakh properties in the city. However, around 45,000 bills have been re-routed to the municipal corporation offices and the field staff are awaiting orders to restart the distribution process.

The MC general house had approved a resolution to hike the water-sewer tariff for different categories by up to 60% in November 2020 and had also revoked the exemption to houses with area up to 125 square yards. The new tariff was imposed in April this year.

An MC official, requesting anonymity, said, “There was quite a furore over the revised tariff and many residents had approached Congress MLAs, after which verbal directions were issued to stop the distribution of water-sewer bills.”

However, mayor Balkar Sandhu said there was no political interference in the working of the MC. “No such incident has come to the fore in the recent past. MC officials have been directed to speed up recovery of dues from residents.”

In June, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) had raised an agitation against the civic body over hiked water-sewer charges and revocation of exemption to houses under 125 square yards. Congress MLA Surinder Dawar had also voiced his objection.

Later, the mayor had restored the exemption but had remained adamant on hiking the utility tariff saying that it was one of the conditions imposed by the World Bank for approving a loan for the 24/7 surface (canal-based) water project.

Delay to cause losses

Residents hoping to avail a 10% rebate, or avail the one-time settlement policy (under which they can clear pending dues without incurring interest or penalty) by paying their bills before September 30 a may miss the deadline.

The MC official said, “Many residents will not be able to avail the rebate or waiver, if the bills are not distributed in time. A few aware residents might pay their bills on their own, but most wait for the physical copy of the bill.”

The MC’s drive to recover dues from residents has also been hit, with the department recovering around ₹10 crore against an annual target of ₹75 crore.