Paying the Tax for Water

You’ll have to pay tax for the water will get at home. Kolkata Municipal Corporation's mayor-in-council met to give its nod to the burden of water tax. Mayor Bikash Bhattacharya will make a official announcement on this in his coming budget speech.

However, people beneath the poverty line, especially slum dwellers, will be exempted from paying the tax. The mayor said it was a much-awaited choice and had to be taken to get better the city's water supply system.

The matter was discussed at length at the MIC assembly. Some members stressed on metering water supply lines, which was a more technical method and a practice followed worldwide. Later, however, it was generally decided to impose the tax at a flat rate. The modalities are toward being worked out later. Although the Asian Development Bank, which has approved Rs 1,600 core for the city's drainage development, had been advocating water tax since 2002, the civic powers that be delayed the decision fearing public outrage.