Hyderabad, January 25 (Maxim News): Hyderabad City Congress Committee (HCCC) Minorities Department Chairman Sameer Waliullah on Monday demanded that the State Government bear the entire cost of installation of new meters for the beneficiaries of 20,000 litres free water scheme in Greater Hyderabad.
Sameer Waliullah said that the guidelines issued by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) on January 23 were not practical and they must be modified. As per the guidelines, he said that the consumers were being asked to link their Customer Account Numbers (CAN) with Aadhaar to avail the scheme. Further, domestic consumers in non-slums areas are being asked to fix a new meter by spending between Rs. 1,498 and Rs. 2,147 each. “The Telangana High Court had opposed the mandatory provision of Aadhaar details in connection with registration of properties. Therefore, how could the HMWSSB force the consumers to link their CAN with Aadhaar to get 20,000 litres of free water?” he asked.
Further, Sameer Waliullah said that more than 50% of the households in the city have no water meters and the Board is charging them a nominal bill of about Rs. 200-300. They are small consumers with consumption of less than 20,000 litres per month. Therefore, instead of forcing them to spend about Rs. 2,000 for installation of new metres, the State Government can start sending them ‘zero bills’. However, if the HMWSSB was firm on fixing new metres, then the State Government should bear the entire cost of installation of nearly 9 lakh metres which would come to about Rs. 193-200 Crores.
The Congress leader also expressed concern over reports that only 100,000 new metres were available with the approved agencies. Therefore, the State Government should clarify as to how it proposes to fill the huge gap of about 800,000 more metres.
Sameer Waliullah ridiculed Municipal Administration Minister K. Taraka Rama Rao for launching the scheme on January 12 without having clarifications about its implementation in Greater Hyderabad. He said it was strange that the guidelines were issued 12 days after Minister KTR launched the scheme. Further, he said that guidelines clearly indicate that it would take at least 12 months for the HMWSSB to implement the scheme in the entire city.
He demanded that the State Government simplify the rules and extend 20,000 litres free water scheme to all the deserving beneficiaries without any complications. (Maxim News)
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