Chattogram Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) planned a substantial increase in water prices of both residential and non-residential sectors.
They proposed to increase the price of water by 30 percent for residents and 50 percent for non-residents.
The organisation, during its 80th board meeting held on Tuesday (16 April), decided to seek approval from the Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Ministry for the price hike.
Earlier on March 27, a seven-member committee was also formed in the 79th Board meeting headed by board member Siddharth Barua.
Currently, the tariff stands at Tk18 per cubic metre (1,000 litres) for residential connections and Tk37 for non-residential ones. Wasa wants to increase the rates to Tk23.50 for residential customers and Tk55.50 for non-residential consumers.
The water supply of Chattogram WASA has decreased due to intense heat. On the one hand, severe salinity has appeared in the water. As a result, many residents of the city are not getting clean water. Consumers of Chattogram WASA are suffering greatly. They are reluctant to accept the price increase proposal.
On September 1, 2022, the water price of Chattogram WASA was revised to Tk 18 for residents and Tk 37 for non-residents. Currently, the selling price of water per thousand liters (residential-non-residential) is Tk 19.71.
Chattogram WASA Managing Director Engineer AKM Fazlullah said, "Chattogram WASA can increase the price up to 5 percent every year if it wants." This time it has been proposed to increase the price to meet the deficit. The proposal will be sent to the ministry soon.
Chattogram Wasa currently has 78,542 residential connections and 7,767 commercial connections. Approximately 40% of Chattogram city residents are not availing Wasa services. Moreover, complaints persist regarding irregular water consumption.
However, the organisation has been increasing the price of water almost every year. In recent times, water prices were not increased in 2021 due to the Covid 19 epidemic. But, the price was increased twice in the following year.
Later, in 2020, the price for residential water was Tk12.40 and commercial was Tk30.30. Then in January 2022, it was increased to Tk13 taka for residential and Tk31.82 for commercial.