The government has assured that water bills will be revised and reduced to a bare minimum. The exorbitant water bills, which includes inspection charges of Rs 100 in addition to meter charges of Rs 78, has caused panic in the minds of the consumers. It is understood that at present the water-supply is disconnected if the water-bill is not paid for three months and above. It would be desirable for the disconnection of the water-supply to be linked to the cumulative amount that is due and not the number of months that the bill is not paid. The consumer may be utilising minimal water and the bill amount for three months or more could be negligible. Some consumers could be out-of-station for some months and on returning could find their water-supply disconnected for non-payment of the water-bill. The fact that many places go without water-supply or restricted water-supply for days at end, also needs to be taken into consideration. Water happens to be the basic necessity of life. Hence the authorities concerned need to show refrain while disconnecting the water-supply especially because it could take a few days before the supply is restored. The consumer needs to be sufficiently warned of the eventual disconnection of the water-supply if the bill is not paid.
