Although the water tariffs will definitely have to be raised in view of the recent revision of electricity tariffs, the National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) stated that the implementation of a tariff revision would take some time due to the need to appoint a committee and make the relevant calculations.
When contacted by The Daily Morning, the Deputy General Manager (Commercial) of the NWSDB Piyal Pathmanatha said: “It was only a few days ago that the electricity tariffs were raised. With that revision and other costs, water tariffs will definitely have to be raised. However, all relevant calculations should be done before it. We are currently discussing the matter and a committee will have to be appointed to study the matter. A committee was already in existence in this regard, but it will have to be reappointed as many officials have retired with the new retirement policy.”
He said that the water tariff revision was implemented in September 2022 after carrying out a lengthy study for two years, and said that it would not take a longer time to implement the revision this time as the findings of that study could also be used. He also said that the NWSDB had been granted approval to only raise water tariffs at a rate which was much lower than the rate it had requested for last year, adding that therefore, the NWSDB is facing difficulties in meeting its expenditures at present.
Pathmanatha said that the main factors taken into account in raising water tariffs would be electricity charges, which amount to around 35% of its total expenditure, fuel prices, and loan interest rates. The reasons for the said factors to be considered, he said, were the need for a large electrical capacity for water pumping and distribution-related activities, the need for fuel for maintenance activities, and the fact that the NWSDB had to pay large sums of debt to the general Treasury and banks.
The majority of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka members, namely Chathurika Wijesinghe, Douglas Nanayakkara, and S.G. Senaratne had approved an increase in electricity tariffs by 66%, effective from 15 February, notwithstanding the objections raised by its Chairman Janaka Ratnayake. This comes after the tariff hike which was implemented in August 2022. This has, however, seen much criticism from the people.
Meanwhile, stating that a water tariff hike was likely, Minister of Water Supply Jeevan Thondaman added on 19 February that officials of the Ministry of Water Supply were exploring alternatives, including renewable energy, to avoid such tariff hikes in the future.
“The NWSDB officers and stakeholders are in discussions on how we can cut costs within the Ministry, in terms of operations. First, we have to come up with a plan for that. The lower the costs are to run the water plants, the lesser the need for a tariff hike. However, as of now, we are looking at a tariff hike as shifting to renewable energy is not going to happen overnight,” he told The Daily Morning.