In a bid to ease the pressure on maintenance and repair of the city’s sewage system, a government-run cess has been added to the cess list.
The new cess is levied at rates of 10 per cent, 11 per cent and 12 per cent depending on the sewage unit.
According to a statement issued by the Department of Water Resources and Sewage, the cess will be levied on all sewage and non-waste water that reaches a municipal water supply point.
This means it will be collected at the municipal water collection point, the statement added.
“We are working towards a sustainable, clean and efficient system and will implement this cess as quickly as possible,” said Rajesh Kumar, commissioner of the Department.
A senior official of the department said the cess would be collected and deposited at the water collection points of the respective municipal authorities.
The cess will also be used to subsidise the purchase of sewage pumps.
The government’s plans to address the city-wide sewage problem have been hampered by poor sanitation and poor sanitary conditions.
The water quality of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has been declared unsafe for consumption, as is the city itself.
The Delhi Municipal Corporation is a public body, not a private entity.
The authorities have been struggling with the problem for the past two decades.
The government had decided to construct a sewerage system at an estimated cost of Rs 3,200 crore.
The project was put on hold when the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Delhi unsafe for drinking.
The country has more than three lakh sewage sludge dumps and more than 100 million tons of water is released into the municipal system every year.