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Water bill at Secretariat rakes up a row for Telangana, Andhra Pradesh

The AP section of the Secretariat has less then 100 employees, while the TS section has about 3,000.

Hyderabad: The governments of Telangana state and Andhra Pradesh have a new quarrel — the drinking water charges at the Secretariat buildings here.

The AP section of the Secretariat has less then 100 employees, while the TS section has about 3,000.

The Hyderabad Metro-politan Water Supply and Sewerage Board supplies drinking water to the Secretariat buildings, for which the charges were shared by TS and AP in a 41.68 to 58.32 ratio.

Despite the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat having moved to Amaravati, the TS government wants AP to continue paying its share of the water charges.

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The AP government stopped paying its share of the water charges when its Secretariat moved to Velagapudi in Amaravati. TS continues to pay only 41.68 per cent of the total water charge.

A senior official of the TS government admitted that it was unfair to expect the AP government to continue to pay 58.32 per cent of the drinking water charges.

Water board sends Rs 1.74 crore bill to TS
The Water Board, meanwhile, has sent a bill which includes a late payment fee and interest on the amount owed to the TS government amounting to Rs 1.74 crore, and the last date for payment is November 17.

The General Administration Department (GAD) has written to the Water Board saying that the TS government had been paying its share of the bill, which is 41.68 per cent, and it is making an effort to get the AP government to clear the pending 58.31 per cent. The department has asked the Board to collect the amount due from the AP government. It has asked the Water Board to write off the late payment fee and interest arrears by considering it as a special case.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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