Replying to a question raised by Congress councillor Shailesh Mehta in the General Board meeting on Wednesday, Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Administration) H S Patel said the company would be asked to pay up in a fortnight, failing which it would not be allowed to bring in the remaining machinery.

Coming down heavily on the administration, Mehta alleged that there was no system of assessing octroi. Mehta said he had come to know that the machinery was rated as scrap.

Admitting that the VMC officers should have checked details of the machinery, Patel said that they would be asked to furnish explanations. While Mehta said that only Rs 28,000 was collected from 12 trucks, Patel maintained that Rs 58,000 was collected from two trucks.

Congress councillor Chirag Zhaveri said that the opposition has been always reminding the VMC to improve octroi collection. Zhaveri said that the drop in octroi collection reflected the VMC's inefficiency.

Zhaveri also wanted the administration to seriously consider the possibility of a water crisis which was likely to surface in the coming months due to poor monsoons this year. The councillor sought to know what steps the VMC had taken to ensure continuous supply of water.

He claimed that but for the plan leaking out, the administration was on the verge of imposing a 10 minute cut in water supply. This, he said, would have been without consulting the elected wing.

Councillors from Karelibaug also complained of poor water pressure. Gita Desai and Ramaben Patel said the question was not merely of low water pressure. Residents have been getting contaminated water time and again, he said.

Congress councillor Nisha Naiyar wanted the VMC to start a boosting station at the earliest in Maneja. Lamenting that the VMC had failed to start the station despite promises, she said that the area's residents have been left with no alternative but to bring water through tankers.

Lokshahi Morcha councillor Chandrakant Shrivastav and BJP councillor Magan Desai expressed concern over the quality of food being supplied to students in municipal schools under the mid-day meal scheme.

The councillors said that when the Government has introduced the scheme with good intentions, the authorities concerned had no right to play with the health of the children.