Month-long disconnection and regularisation drive begins
Mysore/Mysuru: The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC), through its water supply arm — Vani Vilas Water Works (VVWW) — supplies water regularly to 1,85,000 houses, apartments, residential colonies, hostels and commercial complexes. Of them, only 80,000 pay their water dues and the rest do not pay a single rupee though they enjoy water facilities.
Till now, water dues have mounted up to Rs. 190 crore and the defaulters include residential, commercial, government and semi-government bodies.
The cash-strapped MCC gets a major share of income from property tax and water bills and the civic body uses the revenue to undertake various developmental activities. With 1,05,000 illegal connections, there is a big dent in its revenues.
To bring all water supply collection under the tax bracket — or to regularise them — the MCC has launched a month-long drive this morning and 25 teams have been designated with the task. The teams will visit house to house and ask the residents to pay the water bills. If they do not clear the dues, their connections will be immediately disconnected.
According to officials, major defaulters are from Narasimharaja, Chamaraja and Krishnaraja constituencies where many residents do not have water meters while they continue to enjoy the water without paying up. The MCC, unlike electricity supply companies, does not follow the system of disconnecting supply in case of non-payment of dues. The drive, this time, began after a stern warning from MCC Commissioner G. Lakshmikantha Reddy.
The 25 teams formed for disconnection and regularisation drive coordinates the task with the Abhaya teams of the MCC.
The teams are headed by Junior Engineers (JEs) and Assistant Engineers (AEs) and comprises valve men, bill collector and assistants.
The teams are visiting houses and this morning, they were spotted at Subbarayanakere, Chamarajapuram, Lashkar Mohalla, Paduvarahalli (Vinayak Nagar), Metagalli, Kabir Road and Mandi Mohalla.
In his order, the Commissioner has asked the VVWW not to show any leniency while disconnecting supplies and not bow to any pressure or influence. Residents have been given an option of paying the pending water bills before the connections are cut off. The initiative is being led by VVWW Executive Engineer (EE) Suvarna and Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) Mustafa.
Officials said that once the dues are cleared, connections will be immediately restored. Even if the connections are illegal, they can be regularised by paying a fee, they added. However, this is not the first time that the MCC is carrying out such drives. “This time, we have intensified the action and we will see to it that by the end of March, a major portion of the Rs. 190 crore is recovered,” said officials.
Every day 270 MLD (million litres per day) water is supplied to the city areas and other localities but money is flowing into the MCC only for the water up to 160 MLD. Over 110 MLD water has no accounts due to pilferage, leakage and also lack of meters and faulty meters.
This post was published on February 28, 2022 6:45 pm