AIADMK councillors stage a walkout opposing the hike in water tax during the council meeting in Erode in Tamil Nadu on Friday.
| Photo Credit: M. Govarthan

Cutting across party lines, all councillors opposed the Erode Municipal Corporation’s proposal to increase the deposits for water supply services, water consumption charges, underground service connection fees, and user charges by 3% annually, during the council meeting held on Friday (May 30, 2025).

Mayor S. Nagarathinam chaired the meeting. Agenda item 47 of the ordinary meeting stated that the Director of Municipal Administration, in letter No. 33702/2024 dated March 17, 2025, had urged the civic body to implement the Erode Municipal Corporation Water Supply By-Laws 2025. The proposed bylaws outlined revised deposits and consumption charges and included an annual 3% increase to cover the cost of operation and maintenance of the water supply system.

Similarly, agenda item 48 proposed the Underground Sewerage By-Laws 2025, which stated that the underground service connection deposit and user charges would also increase by 3% annually.

Councillors strongly opposed both proposals, particularly the provision to hike water charges based on the square footage of residential or commercial establishments. They expressed dissatisfaction with the proposed annual increase and demanded that both agendas be dropped. Many councillors highlighted the irregular supply of drinking water in their wards, stating they were unable to respond to residents’ complaints, and blamed officials for their lack of responsiveness. They asserted that without ensuring uninterrupted water supply, any hike in charges was unjustified.

DMK Councillor K.S. Sri Aathi (Ward 8) criticised engineers for neglecting work in his ward and urged them to cooperate.

AIADMK Councillor and Leader of the Opposition S.D. Thangamuthu also opposed agenda 38, which sought the council’s approval to carry out repair works on a road sweeper vehicle at a cost of ₹3.92 lakh. AIADMK councillors questioned the number of hours the vehicle had been operated for and raised concerns over the high repair costs.

In protest against the three agenda items and the civic body’s failure to reduce property tax, five AIADMK councillors staged a walkout from the meeting.