MARGAO: Shadow Council for Margao (SCM) on Monday appealed to the opposition party MLAs to raise in the upcoming Goa Legislative Assembly session, the issue in the upcoming, pertaining to the discriminatory system of billing adopted for residential flats/buildings/complexes across the state of Goa.
In a letter addressed to Yuri Alemao, the Leader of Opposition (LoP), Vijay Sardesai of Goa Forward Party (GFP), Venzy Viegas of Aam Admi Party (AAP) and Viresh Borkar of Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP), SCM requested them to raise the issue of inappropriate and excessive billing of residential buildings/complexes by PWD water supply department.
SCM convenor Savio Coutinho said they made this appeal to them given that all the opposition MLAs were attending a joint meeting together in the Goa legislative assembly.
SCM pointed out that Water Bills for residential buildings/complexes are issued @16 units per flat per month, irrespective of whether this quantity of water is used or not. For example, a complex consisting of, say 25 flats is billed monthly for 25x16units=400 units even if their actual consumption is less than 400 units.
Explaining further, Coutinho stated that as a matter of fact, there are hardly any buildings/complex with 100% flats being occupied. “As such the actual consumption is lower than the units billed. And the departments are collecting charges towards water that is not actually consumed,” he added.
“On one hand the government says that the free water scheme is designed to encourage people to save water, but here, by billing people for units/water that is not actually consumed, they are forcing people to waste the water that has been paid for without actual consumption”, said Coutinho.
Furnishing copies of bills of several buildings to the opposition party leaders, SCM suggested that the MLAs could however, ask for bills from complexes in their respective constituencies to understand the same, and address this issue in the august House.
Coutinho also pointed out that SCM had taken up this matter earlier with the PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral and that the Minister had also made a statement in April 2022 to the media that the government will extend the free water scheme to residential flats/complexes also.
“However, till today, the same benefit is not extended to the residential flats/buildings. Several of the flats//buildings/complexes all over Goa continue to be charged for water not consumed by them. It is beyond our understanding, as to why a residential flat should be billed differently, as compared to a residential house. Both are residential premises after all,” Coutinho lamented.
