Deccan Chronicle 30.01.2014
Jail for water thieves
Hyderabad: Those
with illegal water connections can be imprisoned for up to five years.
Six cases have been booked and at least three people have been arrested
in the last two months for possessing illegal water connection at their
residences.
Tenants too need to be careful while taking
houses on rent. As per the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and
Sewerage Board Act, cases will be booked against the house owner, and if
the house owner does not stay on the premises, criminal cases will be
booked against the occupants whomsoever it may be, including tenants.
Revant,
the tenant of a house in Yadav Nagar at Alkapuri of LB nagar was
arrested in December, after it was revealed during an inspection that a
disconnected water pipeline was re-connected without permission from
the Board.
The owner of the house Purushotham Reddy stays abroad and was shown as absconding in the police report.
“Ask
for the latest water bill and Consumer Account Number stating you want
to submit your mobile number to the Water Board officials for SMS alert
on bills. Every connection has been given a CAN. If there is no CAN,
then it’s an illegal connection,” said an official.
Sreedhar, a resident of Manikyanagar in Qutbullapur, was remanded to 14-day judicial custody recently for illegal water line.
Water Board has also started booking criminal cases against those having second connections.
“A
second water connection is not allowed. They have to be surrendered. We
(Board) will upgrade the existing water line from half inch to one inch
depending on the feasibility and number of families staying in the
building,” said Board director (revenue) P.S. Suryanarayana.
The Water Board supplies 340 MGD water in the city but gets paid for only 210 MGD. About 40 per cent water is unaccounted for.
Earlier,
over 50 per cent water was unaccounted for but measures initiated by
present MD J. Syamala Rao has brought down the UFW.
For years, illegal connections, second connections and unmetered connections have been eating into the revenues of the Board.
In
another case, a criminal case was booked against one S. Reddy when
Board officials noticed that he was illegally drawing drinking water
from the water supply pipeline.
Suryanarayana said that those with
illegal water connections could be booked for prosecution under
Sections 52, read with Section-49 (1) (b) (c), of the HMWS&SB Act,
1989, and also Section-3 (2) (a) of the Prevention of Damages to Public
Property Act, 1984 and Section 430 and 379 of the IPC.
The Board can also attach the properties of defaulters under the Revenue Recovery Act.
“Under these sections, the imprisonment can be up to five years,” he added.
The Board can also attach the properties of defaulters under the Revenue Recovery Act.
A
“red notice” is issued to the defaulter stating it is the final notice
and he or she will have to pay the bill along with arrears.
On
non-payment of the bill, Form-I is issued stating that officials will
come for attach the property and seven days is given to the consumer to
pay up.
If the consumer still does not pay, Form-II is issued by
officials for attaching the property. Almost 4,000 red notices have been
issued till date.
