Water, power tariff hiked in Goa, Opposition slams move

Panaji, May 13 (IANS) The BJP-led coalition government in Goa on Wednesday hiked water, electricity and alcohol rates, citing the economic slowdown triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, triggering outrage from the opposition.While water and power tariff were increased by 50 per cent on Wednesday, the Pramod Sawant government on Tuesday, also announced a hike in excise duty on sale of alcohol."After getting badly hit by #CovidLockdown & #EconomySlowdown Common Man waiting for 'Relief' is rewarded with "Hikes in Tariff". Demand @goacm should immediately rollback increase in Water, Diesel & Liquor tariffs," Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat tweeted.Another Opposition MLA, Vijai Sardesai of the Goa Forward party, also said that the hike in tariffs was condemnable."Don't drown local citizens & businesses with increased taxes and rising prices. Increasing taxes on #Water, #Diesel & #Liquor at this stage is condemnable and must be rolled back!" he tweeted.
--IANS maya/vd