Ranchi Municipal Corporation has decided that visiting fees of `500 will have to be paid to agencies empanelled for installing water harvesting systems across Ranchi in lieu of consultation and site visit.
This decision was taken in light of complaints from the said agencies that people contact them to enquire about charges and structures involved in a water harvesting unit without actually delegating work to them.
The civic guardians sat down with representatives from empanelled agencies on Thursday to discuss difficulties they face while implementing the water harvesting norms and solutions to these issues.
In the progress reports handed over by the agencies, the prevailing trend showed that only half of the field visits could be converted into actual water harvesting units. “Our enthusiasm for field visits is exhausted due to the unresponsive attitude of people,” stated one of the representatives.
“I have been charging `500 as visiting charges and it has been quite effective. All of those who paid this fee upfront contacted me later to install water harvesting systems in their households, without exception and they were prompt about paying the bill too,” chipped in Harsh Sahu of Sahu Enclave Developers, one of the 13 empanelled agencies.
This visiting fee will be adjusted in the final billing of work done by the agency, stated Water Board’s Executive Engineer Pramod Bhatt. We will have to look for ways to make the project more effective without putting unnecessary pressure on the people, he added.
The agencies also stated that items not mentioned in the list of materials approved by RMC are often demanded by people who then refuse to pay for them, citing reasons that it is not a part of the prescribed list of items.