The Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority has again increased water tariffs by five per cent without addressing water crisis in different places in the city at a time when people’s income has been hit hard by the lingering Covid outbreak.

With the latest increase, the lone water supplying agency has hiked the water tariffs for 14 times in 13 years since the Awami League returned to power in 2009.

According to the Dhaka WASA board decision, the tariffs for each unit of water will be Tk 15.18 for residential use and Tk 42 for commercial use, up from the current prices of Tk 14.46 and Tk 40 respectively.

The new tariffs will be effective from July 1.

In the past 13 years, the Dhaka WASA has increased the water tariffs for residential use by 181 per cent from Tk 5.75 a unit in 2009 to Tk 15.18 in 2021.

 The Dhaka WASA can increase the water tariffs yearly by five per cent in consultation with the government as per the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority Act, 1996.

The WASA counts 1,000 litres of water as a unit.

Dhaka WASA board member Mustafa Jalal Mohiuddin, also president of the Bangladesh Medical Association, on Tuesday said that the board finally approved the increase in the water tariffs at a meeting held virtually on Monday.

Earlier in March, Dhaka WASA managing director Taqsem A Khan placed a proposal before the board to increase the water tariffs but the board rejected the proposal amid criticism against the move during the worsening Covid outbreak.

Taqsem, who is now in the US, placed the proposal again before the board in the virtual meeting on Monday.

The 13-member board approved the tariff hike despite opposition from at least four members, said officials.

Consumers Association of Bangladesh president Ghulam Rahman criticised the Dhaka WASA, saying that the decision may have legal basis but it is unethical.

‘When people cannot use dirty water in parts of the city, the decision to hike water tariffs is not acceptable,’ he said.

Ghulam, also a former chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission, urged the government to investigate corruption allegations against officials of the Dhaka WASA.

‘If they hike water tariffs for revenue earnings, it is important to investigate how much loss the agency incurs for corruptions,’ he said.

Many residents of parts of city like Mirpur, Jatrabari, Mohammadpur, Badda, Jurain and Old Town of Dhaka complained that they were not getting water supply properly while others alleged that they were mostly getting dirty water.

Conscious Consumers Society founder president Palash Mahmud said that the price hike of water would create an extra financial pressure on consumers when their earnings had decreased significantly and prices of essential commodities had soared.

‘The government agency is ignoring the impact of the pandemic on people,’ he said.

The Dhaka WASA board also increased the sewage management cost by five per cent.

The Socialist Party of Bangladesh in a statement on Tuesday demanded that the Dhaka WASA should cancel its decision to increase the water tariffs, terming it as anti-people.

The party general secretary, Khalequzzaman, in the statement also asked the Dhaka WASA to ensure safe water for people of the city.