MC forms panel to slash sewerage cess

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 30

Apart from deferring the payment of sewerage charges for a month, the Shimla Municipal Corporation has constituted a seven-member team to get the sewerage cess reduced from 50 per cent to 15 per cent.

The decision was taken at the General House chaired by Deputy Mayor Tikender Panwar. Councillors, Assistant Commissioner Prashant Sirckek and other officials were in attendance.

The House agreed that three councillors each from the Congress and BJP would keep the case before the state government.

Shashi Shekhar, Sushant Kapret and Surender Chauhan from the Congress Anup Vaid and Sushma from the BJP sought reduction of the sewerage charges. The notification issued by the Irrigation and Public Health Department in 2005 was being implemented now, they said.

The sewerage connectivity has improved in the last 11 years in the city. “The corporation takes Rs 1,000 per sewerage connection per seat. Consumers paying Rs 70,000 as water bill on commercial charges have to pay hefty sewerage charges, which is not justified,” they argued.

Panwar met IPH Minister Vidya Stokes asking her to amend the notification till Monday. He assured the House that the team would take up the matter with the government. “Fifty per cent sewerage cess is exorbitant and needs to be reduced,” he added. Panwar said the House had decided to defer the payment of sewerage charges for a month till the state government took a final call.

Congress councillors also met Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma early this week and urged him to take up the matter with the government.

The MC earlier passed a resolution assuring residents that the corporation would charge 15 per cent as sewerage charges instead of 50 per cent as notified by the IPH Department.

But the Assistant Commissioner told the House that the corporation could not implement the resolution on sewerage cess as did not have the mandate to amend the IPH order.