Summer is here and taps are going dry. The city has a shortage of 300 MLD (million litres per day) potable water. One of the reasons behind this is flourishing illegal connections.
Says Mohammed Ghouse of Shadabnagar, DJ Halli: "We only get water bills but no water. And we have been paying them regularly to avoid disconnection. Private lobbies control water valves and collect money for unauthorized connections. We have proof of 300 illegal connections in our area. We submitted a report to AEE Gopal Gowda, but no action has been taken."
This is just one among the many areas across the city. The figures available with the BWSSB are startling. There are seven lakh buildings (including apartments and high-rise units) in core areas sanctioned by the BBMP. A rough estimate shows overall water connections here should add up to 18% more than this figure. "But we have only 5.5 lakh legal water connections here," say BWSSB sources. Even the newly added areas have fewer legal connections.
"Illegal connections have been our greatest challenge. They are rampant but very difficult to spot. Recently, we identified and disconnected at least 50 illegal connections across the city. The disconnection drive is not as simple as it seems. In worst cases, we can book offenders under Section 195 IPC, but till date, we haven't been able to. However, we are planning a joint survey soon on tackling this issue across the city," says BWSSB chief engineer Venkatraju.
Source: TOI, 25 Feb, 2010
Says Mohammed Ghouse of Shadabnagar, DJ Halli: "We only get water bills but no water. And we have been paying them regularly to avoid disconnection. Private lobbies control water valves and collect money for unauthorized connections. We have proof of 300 illegal connections in our area. We submitted a report to AEE Gopal Gowda, but no action has been taken."
This is just one among the many areas across the city. The figures available with the BWSSB are startling. There are seven lakh buildings (including apartments and high-rise units) in core areas sanctioned by the BBMP. A rough estimate shows overall water connections here should add up to 18% more than this figure. "But we have only 5.5 lakh legal water connections here," say BWSSB sources. Even the newly added areas have fewer legal connections.
"Illegal connections have been our greatest challenge. They are rampant but very difficult to spot. Recently, we identified and disconnected at least 50 illegal connections across the city. The disconnection drive is not as simple as it seems. In worst cases, we can book offenders under Section 195 IPC, but till date, we haven't been able to. However, we are planning a joint survey soon on tackling this issue across the city," says BWSSB chief engineer Venkatraju.
Source: TOI, 25 Feb, 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment