CM’s bungalow in ‘defaulter list’ over non-payment of 7.4 lakh towards unpaid water bills
Apart from the CM, the defaulter’s list also includes the residences of several state ministers like Sudhir Mungantiwar, Vinod Tawde, Pankaja Munde, Ramdas Kadam, and Eknath Shinde
In an embarrassing development, the BMC declared bungalow ‘Varsha’ – the official residence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis – as a defaulter over non-payment of water bills worth over Rs 7 lakh.
According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the total pending amount of the CM’s bungalow in Malabar Hill is around Rs 7,44,981.
Apart from Fadnavis, names of 18 Maharashtra ministers are also in the list of defaulters, as they are yet to clear their dues. Some have not paid the water bill since 2001.
Sudhir Mungantiwar, Vinod Tawde, Pankaja Munde, Ramdas Kadam, and Eknath Shinde are some of the other ministers whose names are in the list of defaulters.
The state government’s official guest house ‘Sahyadri’ is among the biggest defaulters, with a pending bill of Rs 12 lakh.
The information was disclosed by the hydraulic engineer’s department of the civic body in response to a Right to Information (RTI) query filed by activist Shakeel Ahmed Shaikh from the NGO Adhikar Foundation.
Currently, the BMC charges Rs 5.33 to domestic users and Rs 4.33 to slum dwellers for per thousand litres of water consumption.
