PORVORIM: Quepem MLA Altone D’Costa drew the attention of the members of the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday to the issuance of inflated water bills to people in his constituency. The bills ranged from Rs 5,000 to as high as Rs 15,000, despite the fact that the PWD does not supply treated water to them. Instead, the villagers draw water from springs and other natural sources within the villages, he pointed out. During the Zero Hour, D’Costa demanded an explanation on how the PWD can issue water bills to the villagers of Barcem and Morpirla when they rely on natural sources for their water supply rather than receiving water from the PWD.
Other Opposition MLAs also voiced similar incidents faced by the people in their respective constituencies. Altone D’Costa urged the PWD to remove their water metres from consumers’ homes, if this issue is not solved on priority.
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In response, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant advised D’Costa to provide such bills to the PWD for verification. He suggested that the billed amounts could be arrears that the villagers might have defaulted on, but assured that he would set up an inquiry into the matter on priority. Sawant also mentioned that the government provides 16,000 litres of drinking water free of cost per month.
