Aizawl: Mizo National Front, major opposition party in Mizoram, on Wednesday served a deadline of February 15 to the Congress government to roll back the recently hiked water tariff.
Talking to media persons, MNF chief Zoramthanga said some consumers have faced as high as 400 per cent increase in their water bills.
”To cope with price rise, upward revision of taxes is a necessity in every country and state. However, the rates at which the Congress government has raised water taxes is undemocratical,” the former chief minister said.
”Unless the Congress government rolls back the new water tariff by February 15, the MNF party will do whatever necessary to lift the tax burden on the people,” he warned.
Justifying the hike, the state government today said that it was inevitable to mitigate the loss of the government for supplying drinking water to Aizawl residents.
“The government spends Rs 863 for pumping 10000 litres of water from the river and giving it to consumers whereas the revenue earned from a consumer for this amount of water is just Rs 100,” an official statement said.
Clarifying on complaints that the hike in water tariff has not been pre-informed to the public, the official statement said it had been published in the Mizoram gazette on Semtember 23, 2011 and a bill had been laid in the Mizoram state assembly in December last year. (UNI)