LAHORE: The Government of Punjab has decided to revise the water and sanitation tariffs for Water and Sanitation Agencies (WASAs) to improve its efficiencies, besides removing all illegal water connections, according to a news report published on Tuesday (October 20).
This decision was taken during the second meeting of the Resources Mobilisation Committee, chaired by Minister for Finance Hashim Jawan Bakht. The provincial Ministers for Irrigation Mohsin Laghari and Education Murad Raas were also present on the occasion.
As per the meeting’s agenda to discuss a business plan to increase WASAs’ revenue, it was decided that the federal government would be requested to assign a social tariff for the water and sanitation associations in the province. It was also agreed that the water and sanitation charges on lower groups would be reduced and the revenue generated would be spent on the additional equipment required, to this effect.
The housing and public health engineering secretary revealed that the government will provide Rs18.5 billion subsidy to these associations by 2023, adding that the WASAs could increase their revenue streams by Rs7.4 billion by implementing the proposed plan.
The minister approved the proposed business plan and instructed the officials concerned to collect and compile the details of water and electricity connections in Punjab. He also called for clubbing the revenue collection on solid waste management with WASAs in order to control the sewerage issues.
