207Supply of water from Government water-supply to the Board

(1) Where in any cantonment there is a water-supply such as is referred to in sub-section (1) of section 204, the Board may, and so long as the Board is unable to provide a water-supply of its own, it shall receive from the Military Engineer Services or the Public Works Department, as the case may be, at such point or points as may be agreed upon between the Board and the Military Engineer Services or Public Works Department, a supply of water adequate to the requirements for domestic use of all persons in the cantonment other than entitled consumers.

(2) Any supply of water received under sub-section (1) shall be a bulk supply, and the Board shall make such payments to the Military Engineer Services or Public Works Department for all water so received as may be agreed upon between the Board and the Military Engineer Services or Public Works Department, or, in default of such agreement, as may be determined by the Central Government to be reasonable having regard to the actual cost of supplying the water in the cantonment and the rate charge for water in any adjacent municipality:

Provided that, notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the Board shall not charge for the supply to persons in the cantonment of water received by the Board under this section a rate calculated to produce more than the sum of the payments made to the Military Engineer Services or Public Works Department for water received and the actual cost of the supply thereof by the Board to consumers.

(3) If any dispute arises between the Board and the Military Engineer Services or Public Works Department regarding the rate and amount of water adequate to the requirements of persons in the cantonment other than entitled consumers, the disputes shall be referred to the Central Government whose decision shall be final.