400 apartments take water cheap
This irregularity was unearthed during a recent internal survey by the Water Board
Hyderabad: More than 400 multi-storyed apartments in Malkajgiri and surrounding areas have been issued notices by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board for illegal tapping of water in the guise of Single Domestic Category (SDC) connection instead of the Multi-storied Apartment Complexes (MSAC) category.
This irregularity was unearthed during a recent internal survey by the Water Board which found thousands of complexes and multi-storyed apartments tapping water since 2009 making the exchequer lose Rs 120 crore annually.
The minimum water bill charged for an SDC Rs 212 while for an MSAC it is '957. The bill charged under MSAC is nearly five times than that of SDC.
The Water Board has started issuing notices to the erring apartments. “So far we have issued notices to more than 400 apartments that were tapping water under SDC instead of MSAC. We can regularise these connections by imposing fines,” said P. S. Suryanarayana, HMWS&SB director (revenue).
Such gross violations and that too on a large scale took place when the Greater Hyderabad was formed, say officials.
“We are planning to intensify the drive to identify such apartments and issue noti-ces. After issuing necessary notices we will allow them to regularise after paying the required penalty for continuation of water supply,” he added.