As the hike in water traffic comes into force, water charges will go up by five per cent in Kerala. The hike will be implemented by the Kerala Water Authority from April 1 onwards as per the government order. With this, the minimum charge for domestic usage of water will increase to Rs 4.20 per 1000 litre monthly from the earlier Rs 4 per 1000 litre.
Different rates will be charged as per slab 8 for consumers who use water above 10,000 litres. For instance, a person who consumes more than 50,000 litres will have to pay a sum of Rs 42 against the current Rs 40. According to sources in the Water Authority, the revised rate will come into force for all kinds of connection including domestic and industrial.
The move aims to meet certain conditions set by the Union Finance Ministry to make the state eligible for additional borrowing of two per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).
The state government had issued an order raising the water charges on February 10, but kept it under wraps as they presumably did not want the decision to affect the votes in the recently concluded assembly elections in Kerala. When the order came to light during the elections, the water department claimed they did not finalise the decision regarding the price hike. They claimed that the notification was just technical.
