The Hindu             27.11.2013

Pay up, or your taps will run dry

Concerned over a mounting deficit, the Water Board has
decided to go after defaulters in a big way. Clear-cut targets have been
given to each division with regard to the recovery of dues and
disconnections to be effected during the month itself.

Each
Deputy General Manager has been asked to serve Form I notices under the
Revenue Recovery Act to 10 chronic dodgers for attachment of movable
property, besides issuing 100 red notices to consumers whose arrears are
above Rs. 50,000. The target set for disconnection of water supply is
even higher.

Every division has been tasked with severing four dockets. Each docket covers 1,500 to 2,000 connections.

Such
punitive measures are expected to bridge the widening gap between the
Board’s revenue and expenditure. Accumulated arrears towards water
charges run into a whopping Rs. 735 crore from the non-governmental
sector – both domestic and commercial. Of this, at least Rs. 100 crore
is under dispute. Government departments also owe a substantial Rs. 189
crore.

The Board has also to get arrears of Rs. 74
crore from the 16 Rural Water Supply (RWS) schemes and Rs. 73 crore from
the surrounding 25 Gram Panchayats. The non-allotment of funds by the
Central Government to the GPs in the last two years is said to be the
reason for the huge dues.

So far, the Board has
served 500 red notices. If the defaulters don’t pay up within 14 days
then they are served the Form I notice. Thereafter, movable property is
attached and auctioned.

Red notices effective

However,
with the notices proving effective, the authorities have not resorted
to the latter step. On Monday, three consumers from Banjara Hills
responded to the Form I notice and paid dues of 1-2 lakh rupees.
Attaching defaulter property is seen as undesirable, given the legal
tangles it might precipitate.

“We don’t have the manpower for this,” said Water Board Revenue Director P.S. Suryanarayana.

Disconnections

The
disconnection drive, however, is going on at a brisk pace. The Board
has severed 464 connections this month, the highest (84) being in the
Marredpally area (in Division VII), from where an amount of Rs. 30 crore
is due. Seventy disconnections were effected from Red Hills (Division
IV), where Rs. 39 crore is due, while 38 disconnections were carried out
in Division XVI to recover Rs.10 crore.