Preserve water, get tax cut………Sandeep Ashar
Reduce your daily consumption of water and get tax perks. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to offer rebates in municipal taxes for societies and households that conserve water by recycling.
Senior officials from BMC’s hydraulic department said a 25% rebate in municipal water and sewerage charge is on cards for societies and households that recycle at least one-fourth of the quantity of water supplied. They added that water used for domestic purposes, includes washing and bathing (grey water). It will not include the water used for flushing.
The incentives are part of the new bylaws being formulated by BMCfor recycling of grey water and water incentives. However, the perks will come at an initial price. According to the draft bylaws, all housing, commercial and residential premises, that are above 2,000 sq ft and consume more than 60,000 litres of water per day, will be required to house a grey water recycling plant.
Apart from the mechanical plant, the premises will have to spend money on installing storage tanks and pipelines for the redirection of grey water for flushing and other non-potable use.
Hydraulic engineer Madhukar Kamble, also a member of the five-member panel that formulated the bylaws, said the corporation hopes that the tax perks serve as enough incentive to get people to conserve water.
“60% of the water supplied to households (2,700 million litres daily) is used as grey water. Even if this exercise ensured that 700 million litres could be recycled and reused, this will help reduce the demand-supply gap of water to a great extent.” The shortfall at present is around 1,000 million litres daily.
The bylaws also recommend provisions to penalise those wasting water. Any of the premises falling in the above mentioned criteria failing to recycle water could be penalised. “Every building/premise that falls in the criteria will have to install the recycling plant. We might not provide them additional water for flushing needs,” a senior official said. He added that the bylaws also provide for a fine of up to Rs5,000 for not abiding by the regulations.
Also, owners of industrial plants that discharge waste water into municipal sewerage network will now be required to submit a comprehensive discharge management plan. The bylaws also require the owners to conduct yearly tests determining the quality and quantity of the waste water discharge. “We will not renew the license if there is degradation in the quality or an increase in quantity,” Kamble said. Additional municipal commissioner Anil Diggikar said the bylaws will soon be tabled before the general body.