Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) has to reserve water from the Water Resources Department every year to supply water to the city and has to pay a water fee of about ₹24 crore for this. Now, the Water Resources Department has written a letter to the NMC and increased this fee by 10 per cent. This will put an additional burden of about ₹2.40 crore on the municipal corporation every year. As a result, the municipal corporation is also likely to increase its water tariff by 10 per cent.
For the last three years, the municipal corporation's water supply department has been paying a fee of ₹24 crore to the Water Resources Department every year. Now, with the increase in the rate, they will have to pay ₹26.50 crore. Water is reserved for the municipal corporation every year according to the available water supply from the Gangapur Dam. The water supply department pumps 245 MLD of water daily. The municipal corporation pays a water fee to the Water Resources Department every year to pump water from the Gangapur Dam.
An agreement has been signed between the Municipal Corporation and the Water Resources Department regarding water usage for the period of 2022 to 2028. For the first three years, the rate was 6.50 paise per ten thousand litres. According to the agreement, a 10 per cent increase was expected after three years. Therefore, now for the three years from 2025 to 2028, the rate will be ₹6.66 paise, based on a 10 per cent increase. That is, an additional ₹2.5 crore will have to be paid every year. This increase will be effective from the month of June.
Arrears and Spot Billing
On the one hand, the municipal corporation pays crores of rupees in water charges to the Water Resources Department every year, while on the other hand, it has water bill arrears of about ₹250 crore from the citizens of the city.
To increase the municipal corporation's water bill income and keep track of water distribution, a private company, Canberry, has started a survey of pipe connections. It is expected that this will benefit the municipal corporation. Through this, spot billing will be given to the concerned tap holder through the application by taking the reading of the water meter. Water bills are being distributed quarterly from the month of April.
40% Water Leakage
40 per cent of the water in the city is not registered (leakage or theft). The municipal corporation is trying to control this. Now, the company is conducting a survey regarding water meters. There are about 2,12,000 tap connections in the city under the municipal corporation. Since there is a large amount of water leakage and water theft, the municipal corporation has taken steps to control this.
