Sawant said that the State might borrow Rs 200 to Rs 300 crore per month but equal amount is paid back as a part of repayment of the loan procured by state government, around 15 years back.
The Chief Minister was speaking during inauguration of augmented capacity of Water Treatment plant at Opa.
“It is not that only my government has been borrowing. It was being taken even in the past. I have been paying the loan which was taken 15 years back,” he said.
“The repayment installment of the loan procured in the past is around Rs 2,500 crore per annum. Per month, though we borrow Rs 200-300 , we repay equal amount in installment,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that his government cannot do away with the responsibility of paying the loan which was taken some 15 years back as “government is a continous process.”
Speaking about the drinking water supply in the State, the Chief Minister conceded that it is not possible to provided 24 by 7 water supply to the consumers at this juncture.
“If you say that we need water 24 by 7 then it is not possible at this juncture. We need to augment our capacity,” he said.
Sawant said that the state bears Rs 15 per cubic litre as a cost to treat water which is supplied to the consumers at mere Rs 2.5 per cubic litre.
“There are instances where people misuse the treated water to wash their vehicles or irrigate the farms because they don’t know its value,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that the abandoned mining pits have become a source of water for the state as they harvest the rainwater.
“We are also pumping out water from mining pit,” he said adding that the state government has urged the Central government not to insist for filling up of these pits as a mining closure plans as they can be used for rainwater harvesting.
