Water tariff in Dhaka set to rise again

Dhaka Wasa has again proposed hiking water prices by five percent for residential and commercial uses from July 1.

According to the proposal, to be placed before a meeting of Dhaka Wasa Board today, the prices of each unit (1,000 litres) of water will be Tk 15.18 for residential use and Tk 42 for commercial use, up from the current prices of Tk 14.46 and Tk 40 respectively.

The company also wants to raise sewerage charges at the same rate, Wasa sources said.

The Wasa MD has already given his consent to increase the price, said officials.

The move comes at a time when the people's income has been hit hard by the pandemic. The country is seeing a sharp spike in the Covid-19 infection rate for the last few weeks.

Wasa last year had increased the price of water by 25 percent. Before that hike, the prices of water were Tk 11.57 and Tk 37.04 per unit for residential and commercial uses respectively.

Last month, a study by South Asian Network on Economic Modelling (SANEM), a research organisation, found that the poverty rate in the country has doubled in two years.

The organisation interviewed 5,577 households across the country last year, and found that 42 percent of them were below the poverty line. The rate was 21.6 percent when the same group was interviewed in 2018.

There are allegations that residents of many city areas, including Jurain, are supplied with poor quality of tap water. Besides, many face acute shortage of drinking water and don't have access to sewerage network.

A group of residents of Jurain had staged a demonstration in front of the Wasa's Karwan Bazar headquarters on April 23, 2019, demanding supply of pure water.

The image of Mizanur Rahman, a resident carrying a jug full of dirty water as a sarcastic gift of "sherbet" for Wasa Managing Director Taqsem A Khan for saying "water supplied by Wasa was 100 percent safe" is still fresh in the minds of Dhaka residents.

'WASA PROPOSAL ILLOGICAL'

Terming the price hike proposal illogical, Chairman of Institute of Water and Environment M Inamul Haque said Dhaka Wasa increases the price of water and sewerage charges but the city dwellers are not getting better service.

He said the quality of tap water in many city areas did not improve, and many residents depend on private deep tube-wells for water.

Inamul said many areas of the capital still remain out of the coverage of Wasa's sewerage network.

Wasa Chairman Golam Mostafa said the company increases water price by five percent every year to adjust with inflation.

The board meeting would be held today and if it endorses the price hike proposal, the new price would be effective from July 1, he said.

About the coronavirus situation, Mostofa said they were not hiking the price much considering the pandemic although there was still a huge gap between the production cost and price of water.

"We only earn half of the production cost of water and we have to increase the price gradually to have a sustainable future for the company," he said.

Asked whether they would send the proposal to the LGRD ministry for approval, he said the Wasa board can approve proposals for hiking the price by up to five percent every year.

The Dhaka Wasa can increase the water tariff by five percent in consultation with the government as per section 22 of the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority Act, 1996.

Wasa MD Taqsem said they want to hike the tariff by only five percent to adjust with inflation.

About increasing sewerage charges, he said they realise the charges only from clients in the city's 18 to 20 percent areas which are under coverage of sewerage network.

"We have a master plan to bring 100 percent of areas under the sewerage network. Once the plan is implemented, we will realise sewerage charges from clients across the city," he added.