लोकायत शोध संस्थान

Rajendra Bora Jaipur.The water rates in Rajasthan are poised to go up steeply if the new draft of State’s Water Policy is adopted and implemented in letter and spirit. The new Policy being vigorously pursued by the Gehlot Government calls for “rationalization of Operation and Maintenance charges” by introducing “an effective differential water tariff” which will go “progressively upward towards full cost of operation and maintenance”. The Draft Policy document proposes to charge a “three or four stepped water tariff” with the highest rate for excessive use of water for different uses including agricultural, industrial, commercial and municipal purposes. The idea behind the stepped water tariff is to use the higher rates as a “strong disincentive” for “profligate water usages” “This stepped water tariff will be set to ensure magnitude difference in water rates between lowest and highest rates”, the Draft Policy says adding that “the first stepped rate of relatively cheap water will be c...