Shame government does not pay water dues: Opposition

The Asian Age.

Metros, Mumbai

According to a recent Right To Information (RTI) plea, the chief minister’s bungalow, Varsha, owes Rs 7.44 lakh to the civic body as water charges.

Senior Nationalist Congress Party MLA and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar

Mumbai: The Opposition members in the legislative Assembly on Tuesday demanded that water supply to ministers including chief minister Devendra Fadnavis  must be stopped for non-payment of their outstanding dues.

Raising the issue, senior Nationalist Congress Party MLA and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, said that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has declared chief minister’s residence, Varsha, and other ministers’ defaulters after the water bills were not paid.

“The water supply to their houses should be stopped. They would understand the importance of the issue only if they have to come to Vidhan Sabha without taking a bath,” said Ajit Pawar.

“Crores of people live in Mumbai. Their water connections are discontinued if they fail to pay their water bills. However, no action is being taken against chief minister and other ministers despite the fact that their water bills are pending since past several months,” he added.

“It is a shame for the state government that the ministers don’t pay water bills on time. People will question the continued supply of water to ministers who have long pending dues,” Mr Pawar said.

According to the BMC, the total amount of the bill pending is around Rs 7,44,981.

Apart from Mr Fadnavis, names of 18 other Maharashtra ministers are also in the list of defaulters, after they did not clear the pending dues.

Among those in the list of defaulters are state finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, school education minister Vinod Tawde, rural development minister Pankaja Munde, environment minsiter Ramdas Kadam and health minister Eknath Shinde. State government’s official residences owe Rs 8 crore to BMC, says the information revealed in a Right To Information (RTI) plea.

Meanwhile, several departments of the Maharashtra government have repotedly not paid their water bills to the BMC since 2001.

As of May 31, 2019, the Maharashtra government owes Rs 481.52 crores to the civic body.

A total of 22 state departments find their place in the civic body’s defaulters list on the pending water bills.

NCP ‘begs’ to pay for CM’s unpaid water bill

Following reports of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ residence, “Varsha” bungalow, not having paid water bills worth lakhs of rupees, the youth wing of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday staged a “Bheek Maango” protest to “foot the pending bills”.

The NCP activists begged outside Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), urging people to donate money for paying the pending water bills of the bungalows of the chief minister and some other ministers.

The NCP youth wing's working president Suraj Chavan said, “The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation cuts water supply when common citizens fail to pay bills even for a month or two. But the bill of the chief minister’s bungalow has been pending for several months. We will help pay the bill with the ‘Bheek Maango’ protest.”

If the BMC fails to take action in the matter in the next four to five days, they would lead a march towards the chief minister’s official residence and cut its water supply along with civic officials, he said.

According to a recent Right To Information (RTI) plea, the chief minister’s bungalow, Varsha, owes Rs 7.44 lakh to the civic body as  water charges.

However, the state government has made it clear that the water bills of the bungalows of the chief minister and other ministers were paid in November 2018 itself.

The state government added that the process to clear the dues, however, was stopped after a “difference” was noticed in the bills cleared earlier and received in May this year, it said.

The government also said that the process to clear the dues was being undertaken immediately after tallying the same. A dozen other ministers’ homes were also in the defaulters list.

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