Mungantiwar seeks relief for 13 shut Chandrapur drinking water schemes over unpaid power bills
Chief Secretary has assured waiver of arrears for schemes serving about 190 villages, MLA Sudhir Mungantiwar says after petitioning the Chief Minister.
MLA Sudhir Mungantiwar has taken up with the government the issue of regional drinking water schemes in Chandrapur district that have been shut because of unpaid electricity bills. He said villagers should not have to wander in search of drinking water in drought-like conditions.
Mungantiwar submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, demanding that the shut schemes be restarted immediately and the issue of the unpaid electricity bills be resolved. He also spoke on the subject over the phone to Maharashtra Chief Secretary Rajesh Agrawal.
In the conversation, the Chief Secretary responded positively and assured that the unpaid electricity bills would be waived. About 1.75 lakh people in around 190 villages depend on the 13 shut regional drinking water schemes in the district, and hopes of relief have risen.
A total of 33 regional drinking water schemes are run in Chandrapur district through the zilla parishad and an apex committee. Of these, 20 are currently supplying water. The remaining 13 schemes owe electricity bills of about Rs 4.92 crore (Rs 4,92,68,000), because of which they are shut. With water sources drying up in drought-like conditions and power to these schemes cut, people in the villages concerned are facing a water shortage.
Mungantiwar said that, to ensure villages get regular water, the unpaid electricity bills of these schemes should be paid from the drought relief or scarcity fund. He recalled that during the 2018 drought the government had directed that electricity bills of rural piped drinking water schemes be paid from the scarcity fund. On the same lines, he said, the government should take an immediate decision now and restart the shut schemes. He has made this demand of Chief Minister Fadnavis.
Mungantiwar's position is that drinking water is a basic need and villagers should not be deprived of it because of unpaid electricity bills. After the memorandum to the Chief Minister and the talks with Chief Secretary Agrawal, the matter has moved towards being resolved at the government level.
If the Chief Secretary's assurance is acted upon and power supply to the 13 schemes resumes, about 1.75 lakh people in 190 villages of Chandrapur district could get major relief. People in the district are now waiting for the government's next decision.
