Rafiabad residents demand rollback of water tariff hike

Baramulla: The residents of Watergam Rafiabad and its adjoining villages in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district Tuesday staged a protest demonstration demanding immediate rollback of water tariff hike.

The protestors said that the increase in water tariff was unjustified and that the decision would increase the miseries of the people already struggling because of inflation.

“The water tariff hike will be a huge blow to the people,” said Muhammad Ashraf, a protestor at Watergam, Rafiabad. “The administration is multiplying our woes instead of easing our hardships. Such decisions which are not people-friendly need to be rolled back immediately.”

Social activist and lawyer, Muhammad Inayat, who was leading the protesters, said that hiking the water tariff was an attempt to further weaken the economic position of the people already suffering economically during the ongoing pandemic.

He said as per the circular, people in the town had to pay over Rs 3000 per annum per connection compared to Rs 944 fixed earlier.

“This is a 300 percent increase,” Inayat said. “Such a massive hike will break the back of people. Had the administration been connected to the people, they would have not put such a burden on them.”

The Jammu and Kashmir Water Resources Regulatory Authority revised the water tariff for consumers in domestic and commercial segments with effect from April 2021.

As per the revised order, for water connection of a household in the urban area, one has to pay an annual water tariff of Rs 3000 for ½ inch water supply pipe and Rs 5700 for ¾ inch water supply pipe while the user charges have been increased by Rs 300 per year in this category.

Similarly, in the rural area, in the domestic connection category, the tariff for consumers with a water supply pipe size of ½ inch has been fixed at Rs 1000 per year and Rs 1600 per year has been fixed for ¾ inch water supply pipe.

In the commercial category, an annual water tariff of Rs 10,000 has been fixed for a water supply pipe connection of ½ inch.

The water tariff for connection size ¾ inch, 1 inch, and beyond 1 inch has been fixed at Rs 30,800, Rs 92,440, and Rs 1,44,000 annually.

The protestors appealed the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and the district administration to pay attention to the issue of water tariff hikes.