829 colonies to get single taps under Bhopal civic plan:Council to approve ₹130 marriage registration fee, individual connections rollout, and AMRUT 2.0 green bond funding

Bhopal Municipal Corporation meeting will be held on January 13. Its agenda has been released. If the 3 proposals included in the agenda are approved by the council, millions of people will benefit. Most notably, bulk water connections in a total of 829 colonies will be converted to individual connections. Also, the marriage registration fee will now be only 130 rupees. These two major decisions were approved in the Mayor-in-Council (MIC) meeting held on January 2. Now they will be presented in the corporation council meeting to be held on January 13. 3900 rupees cut in Marriage Registration Fees
According to the corporation, the prescribed fee till now is 1100 rupees. A late fee of 500 rupees per year and a maximum late fee of 5000 rupees was charged. After the proposal is passed, the registration fee will be 130 rupees. This amount will have to be paid if applied within 30 days. If applied after 30 days, it will cost 1100 rupees. This means that the maximum amount was previously 5000 rupees, which is being reduced by 3900 rupees. Big Decision of ‘City Government’ on Individual Connections
If the proposal for individual connections is passed in the council meeting after approval in MIC, then this will be a big decision of the city government. During the municipal elections, BJP had promised regarding this. Meanwhile, from time to time, MPs and MLAs have also raised this demand. On the other hand, Congress has been continuously demanding, so that common people can benefit. This issue has been raised in many meetings. Let us tell you that the issue of bulk connections has been raised many times in public programs as well. Especially in the colonies on Hoshangabad Road, due to the compulsion of bulk connections, people are unable to get connections. People are demanding that they be given single, i.e., individual connections. This will avoid unnecessary burden. This very proposal is now going to be presented in the meeting on January 13. Regarding this, Water Works Superintending Engineer Udit Garg has also submitted his detailed report to Mayor Malti Rai. This much expenditure on implementing individual connection system
There are a total of 1566 colonies in Bhopal city. Out of these, 829 colonies are such where the Municipal Corporation supplies water through bulk connections. In these colonies, there is a demand for providing water through individual connections. If the Municipal Corporation operates in these colonies, the total cost for valvemen, operators, supervisors, pipeline laying, and interconnections will be 801 crore rupees. Its Detailed Project Report has also been prepared. Providing water through smart meters to 74,905 houses in these colonies will cost 9709 rupees per household. The total amount spent will be 72.73 crore rupees. Including the installation of smart meters, the total expenditure will be 874.43 crore rupees. For the maintenance/operation of water supply in these, work can be carried out by colony residents through outsourcing. For this, the fixed charge for bulk connection, 17 rupees per thousand liters, will be paid by the agency to the Municipal Corporation. The additional amount will be collected by the agency from the respective colony. Consent of the people is necessary for obtaining individual connections in these colonies. The process of providing individual connections will only proceed upon receiving more than 70 percent consent. In these colonies, the process of providing individual connections can be done on a first-come, first-served basis. More than 2.30 lakh connections in Bhopal
Bhopal has more than two lakh 30 thousand tap connections. Through these, the Municipal Corporation delivers water door-to-door in the morning and evening. These also include bulk connections. Due to bulk connections, people face problems. Therefore, they are demanding individual, i.e., single connections, instead of bulk ones. The corporation is providing bulk connections by combining many consumers. This also brings many practical difficulties for people. Therefore, they want individual connections. This way, people will be able to get connections according to their needs and will not have to pay a higher price. Congress also wants the compulsion to be removed
The Congress was also raising the issue for providing individual domestic tap connections instead of bulk ones. Congress councilors have also created a ruckus in the last two meetings. Third proposal related to AMRUT 2.0
The third proposal included in the agenda is related to AMRUT 2.0. A departmental proposal regarding raising the contribution amount through Green Municipal Bonds, along with the recommendation of the Mayor-in-Council, has been received by the Municipal Council for consideration. A total of 1757.2 crore rupees will be spent on this. 1263.5 crore rupees will be received from the central and state governments. The remaining 493.49 crore rupees will be arranged from the corporation’s own sources. Out of this, 200 crore rupees will be raised through Green Municipal Bonds.