Water in Leskovac spikes in price by 50 percent
Water will be more expensive for the residents of Leskovac and the surrounding area by almost 50 percent, and in nearby Grdelica by as much as 124 percent, as members of the Leskovac City Council decided.
Such a significantly higher price will only apply to households in Leskovac, it is specified in the accepted proposal, and it is stated as an argument that the prices of the necessary materials have significantly increased, while restrictions are applied in Grdelica, because there is not enough water, but it has been decided to increase its price dramatically.
Citizens will pay RSD 88 for water instead of RSD 59.18 per cubic meter as of August 1, and Head of the Department for Economy and Agriculture, Rade Velinov, said in his explanation that the current price did not cover simple reproduction and recalled that the last adjustment of the price of water for households was in April 2015.
„During 2021, the price of technical chlorine increased by 140 percent per kilogram, and the costs of salaries on the basis of the minimum labor price for 2022 alone increased by RSD 14.3 million. In addition, the price of water supply and sewage materials increased by 40 percent at the beginning of the year, and the price of electricity is expected to rise, which indicates the justification for this price increase,“ Velinov said.
Mayor of Leskovac Goran Cvetanovic cited that the reason for the increase in water price in Grdelica „is the fact that there is not enough water, so in the evening and night some villages are disconnected in order to collect water in accumulation, because there are many abuses since water is used for watering gardens and fields“.
As a second reason, he stated that the PUC Grdelica water system passes at 12 spots through the riverbed, so when a pipe breaks, no losses can be detected, because everything goes into the river, and the losses reach 70 percent.
On the other hand, people from Grdelica who have been fighting for years against the construction of mini-hydro power plants on the Rupska River say that the main reason for the water shortages are the two mini-hydro power plants built on it.
Izvor: Danas, FoNet
Foto: Pixabay
