Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Congress MP, MLA differ on water meters

Staff Reporter

Lagadapati terms corporators' stand `ridiculous'

ANGRY GESTURE: Mayor Mallika Begum at the general body meeting of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation on Thursday. — Photo: Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar

VIJAYAWADA: Lok Sabha member Lagadapati Rajagopal and Vijayawada East MLA Vangaveeti Radhakrishna on Thursday expressed divergent views on the issue of fixing meters for domestic water supply connections.

During a discussion at the general body meeting of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC), the MP put forward a very strong argument in favour of fixing of water meters, but the MLA opposed the move equally vehemently. The MLA also utilised the occasion to settle some political scores with the MP.

Mr. Rajagopal said it was `ridiculous' on the part of corporators to `oppose development'. Since the city had an abundant supply of water, the Congress Government wanted to provide water round the clock to all citizens. At present, the VMC was able to supply drinking water to only less than 25 per cent of the households in the city.

Though there were 1.4 lakh white cardholders and 1.3 lakh prink cardholders in the city, only about 74,000 families had individual tap connections. Though the Congress Government had reduced the deposit to be paid for getting a household tap connection from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 1,200, the poor could take only 10,500 connections under the scheme. The MP said that the per capita consumption of water by each person in the city was 190 litres a day, and the Government intended to give the poor the same amount of water free of cost. But meters were needed to study the consumption patterns and check wastage, he said.

MLA's contention

Differing strongly with the MP's contention, Mr. Radhakrishna cautioned that the Congress would incur the public wrath if water meters were fixed in the city, which was on the banks of Krishna River.

In an oblique reference to Mr. Rajagopal's nativity in another district, the MLA remarked: "Only those who belong to Krishna district know the anxiety of people here. Persons from other districts should not try to impose themselves on people here just because they are holding important positions."

He stressed the need for an all-party delegation to meet Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy to explain him the `pulse of people' on water meter issue.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Civic administration asked to stop fixing water meters
Congress MP, MLA differ on water meters
Golden girl Rishita returns home
VMC nod for two major projects
Traffic diversion for Gunadala fest
It's birthday time at Fortune Murali!
Around the City
In Vijayawada Today

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu