Bengaluru: BJP leader in the BBMP council, N.R. Ramesh warned on Monday that unless the BWSSB withdrew the 19 to 73 per cent hike in water tariff, his party would hold a dharna in front
of its head office in the city in protest.
Addressing a press conference, he said a decision would be taken after a meeting with party members in the next four to five days. “The BWSSB has instead of plugging the leaks in the distribution network hiked the water and sanitary charges steeply.
The average water consumption by Bengalureans is between 28,000 to 35,000 litres and so with this steep hike, a consumer who was getting a bill of Rs 500, will end up paying close to Rs 1,000 a month.
The sewerage charges have been almost doubled,” he observed, demanding that responsibility be fixed on lower rung officials like valve men and meter readers to identify and plug the leaks in the system. “If the BWSSB focuses on plugging the leaks, it can lower the tariff instead of increasing it,” Mr. Ramesh argued.
The BJP leader also announced that he would not use his official car and driver in the interest of promoting austerity in the BBMP . “I do not want to use any perks extended by the BBMP to the ruling party leader, including stationary. I have my personal car and driver and I continue use it.
I have requested BBMP commissioner M. Lakshminarayan to allot the car to some honest and hard working officer in BBMP,” he added, noting that the expenses of using the car, including fuel, maintenance and driver, would add up to Rs 1 lakh a month.
The car will now be reportedly allotted to additional commissioner, solid waste management, Darpan Jain. Asked whether he would request his other partymen to follow suit, Ramesh said it was his individual decision and he would not impose it on others.
