DNA: Mumbai: Tuesday, May 15, 2012.
Whether the ongoing austerity drive has had any effect on air travel is yet to be ascertained, but it does seem to have made a difference in electricity and water consumption patterns of Maharashtra’s ministers.
Details procured under an RTI show that while total electricity units consumed by all state ministers at their officials residences between April 2010 and March 2011 was 25,64,851, the figure stood at 22,54,722 in 2012-2013. The government was billed Rs1.80 crore as against Rs2.01 crore last year for the same.
Water consumption per thousand litres or kilolitres at their official homes has also reduced simultaneously. While the amount spent on water consumption is shown to be more in terms of kilolitres, consumption has fallen by almost 20 kilolitres in one year.
One minister who has drastically slashed his consumption figures is Chhagan Bhujbal, closely followed by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan who seems to have set an example for his cabinet. He features prominently in both lists (see boxes). When it comes to units of electricity saved, Chavan ranks second while on the amount of water saved, he features third, after minister Patangrao Kadam.
“It is good that the ministers have tried to reduce power consumption and more importantly water consumption too. The state is reeling under a power crisis and there are areas in Mumbai that still do not receive water. The CM should lead from the front to take green measures,” said Chetan Kothari, an RTI activist.
However, a few ministers, such as Ajit Pawar, Babasaheb Thorat and Rajendra Gavit, have played spoilsport by increasing their power consumption, the RTI query revealed
“Ministers who cannot keep their power consumption at the same level as the previous year should pay from their pockets or else public money will keep getting wasted,” said Kothari.
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