Ten political parties in Dharan have announced a series of protest programmes against the Dharan Water Supply Management Board’s decision to increase drinking water tariff.

On July 26, the parties had submitted a letter to the Board asking it to withdraw the decision within 72 hours.

They took to the protest following the Board’s ‘indifference’ towards their demands.

They plan to interact with the stakeholders on Thursday, submit memorandums at all ward offices on Friday, and stage sit-ins at the offices on Sunday.

The installation cost for a water tap has been increased by Rs5,000 making it Rs20,000, up from the previous Rs15,000 for a half-inch pipe connection. It has also raised the hole-change tariff to Rs8,000 from the existing Rs3,000.

The board falls under the jurisdiction of Dharan sub-metropolis, which is headed by Mayor Harka Sampang Rai.

The parties accuse Mayor Rai of hiking prices under the pretext of managing installation, repair and maintenance costs for the water supply system.

“Mayor Rai, who had promised to solve the drinking water crisis in Dharan and had prioritised proper maintenance of the existing drinking water supply lines and bringing new water projects to solve the problem in the sub-metropolis, has instead allowed the price hike by multiple times,” Harkajang Aveng, CPN-UML chair of Dharan, said.

The revised tariff has been enforced from July 16, the first day of the new fiscal year.

At Mayor Rai’s initiation, water was brought to Dharan from the Kokaha stream through a 40-km long pipeline.

Rai had promised to resolve Dharan’s drinking water crisis by prioritising the maintenance of the existing drinking supply lines and bringing new projects to solve water problems in the sub-metropolis.

The Dharan Drinking Water Campaign led by Mayor Rai collected around Rs40 million from thousands of individuals and organisations within and outside the country for the drinking water project. The campaign used the donation money to construct the drinking water project, according to Mayor Rai.