Additional City Engineer B S Trapasia told Express Newsline that in several cases it was found that one inch or above connections meant for domestic purpose were misused for commercial purpose. There are an estimated 1,000 such connections.

If the proposal is passed by the elected wing, the new rules will come into effect from April 1, 1999. Trapasia said it was hoped that when the consumers would be asked to pay rates on commercial basis they would apply for converting the connections into domestic, thereby reducing the use. In some cases, the consumers have been found using the water for maintaining garden and garage too.

He said it was also contemplated to remove meters from some category of connections as they were not functioning properly, resulting in the consumers being charged less. A civic officer said if the meters are removed, the VMC would not have to deploy additional staff for the maintenance.

A highly placed civic officer said the possibility of water charges being revised in the next year's budget could not be ruled out. The question as to how long the VMC would be able to provide water at a subsidised rate was discussed at a meeting of civic officers on Tuesday evening.

The meeting was attended by Municipal Commissioner G R Aloria, Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Administration) H S Patel, Assistant Municipal Commissioner (Revenue) R P Yagnik and City Engineer B K Desai.

About a month ago, talking to reporters, the civic chief had stated that plans were afoot to rationalise water charges. He had mentioned that a study was being undertaken on how best the changes could be effected.