Kerala Water Authority dues may cost Corp dear

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The local self government department’s recent order asking local bodies to immediately settle their arrears with the Kerala Water Authority (KWA), has hit the fund-starved Kochi corporation hard.

In a circular issued on June 11, the local self government department directed all local bodies to remit their dues before the final date fixed by the KWA.

As per the order, the Kochi corporation has been asked to settle the dispute with the KWA regarding the number of public taps in the city within one month.

Earlier, accepting a onetime settlement formula, the city corporation had agreed to pay Rs 25.71 crore to the KWA towards water charges. If the corporation fails to remit the amount immediately, the dues will be deducted from its annual maintenance fund.

The civic body will have a tough time ahead, if the annual non-road maintenance fund is deducted. Any deduction in the maintenance grant will upset the cash-strapped corporation, according to sources at the corporation.

“Any cut in the annual maintenance grant will have a serious impact on the corporation’s financial stability. It will upset development plans devised for the fund-starved local body.

Moreover, it will badly affect the maintenance of government buildings, hospitals and schools.

The electricity bills of government offices are also being paid from the maintenance grant,” said K.J. Sohan, town planning committee chairman.

The local body gets nearly Rs 33 crore as a plan fund and around Rs 4 crore as a grant from the government annually.

The government has not estimated the values of the assets handed over to the KWA and the corporation didn’t get any compensation from the authority.

The KWA should consider the huge amount of money spent by the corporation to repair the damaged pipelines and roads that were dug up to re-lay pipes, he added.

Though the KWA took over the water supply in the city from the corporation in 1991, due to disputes about the number of public taps and assets handed over to the KWA, the corporation ran up arrears amounting to Rs 90 crore.

A joint meeting of the corporation officials and the KWA representatives held in Thiruvananthapuram in May discussed the issue of dues and reached a consensus to settle the amount at Rs 25.71 crore.