Steep hike in water tariff in Madikeri municipal limits

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of CMC President H M Nandakumar. The water tariff for domestic use will be hiked to Rs 120 from Rs 45, Rs 240 for non domestic use. The tariff for commercial and industrial purpose has been reduced to Rs 480 from Rs 600. The Council also decided to revise SAS by 15 per cent.

As per the direction of Directorate of Municipal Administration, the property tax can be revised by 15 to 30 per cent once in five years and the CMC is increasing the tax by 15 per cent. When the members said it would be better to increase the water tariff after the implementation of Kunda mestri water project, Nandakumar said that the water tariff has not been revised for the last several years. “To provide basic infrastructure facilities, the CMC has to revise the tariff. When the CMC is facing severe shortage of staff, the CMC is forced to outsource 12 staff.”

Commissioner Shashikumar said that the government has asked to revise the water tariff once in three years.

Housing scheme
Rajiv Gandhi Housing Scheme Nodal Officer Narasimha said under Vajpayee housing scheme, as many as 300 houses can be constructed at the cost of Rs 1.30 lakh each. About 84 beneficiaries have come forward to construct the houses. He said the annual income of the beneficiaries should be below Rs 87,600 and those who do not own sites can also apply. The Council also approved the work on drainages at the cost of Rs 62.20 crore.

Markets
The officials explained about the new market, which will be built at the cost of Rs 2.90 crore through presentation.