MUMBAI: Even as the civic standing committee a few days ago gave its nod to the

to increase water charges in the city by 2.48 per cent, it has come to light that as many as 18 Maharashtra state ministers including the chief minister Devendra Fadnavis have not paid their water bills over the past several years.

Chief minister

'Varsha' has been mentioned in the defaulter list by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Varsha bungalow has been declared a defaulter by BMC as Rs 7,44,981 water bill is pending.

The above reply was given in a Right to Information (RTI) query filed by Shakeel Ahmed Shaikh, from the NGO Adhikar Foundation.

BMC officials from the hydraulic department are yet to confirm the same.

The chief minister's bungalow situated in Malabar Hill area in Mumbai is the official residence of the Maharashtra chief minister.

Names of over a dozen other Maharashtra ministers, including Sudhir Mungantiwar, Pankaja Munde and Ramdas Kadam are also in the list of defaulters who did not pay the water bill. As per the RTI reply given, the water charges have been pending since 2001.

Currently, domestic users are paying the BMC water charges of Rs 5.22 per thousand litres of water. Out of this amount, 70% is a sewerage charge. Meanwhile, water charges to be paid by slums is Rs 4.33 per thousand litres.