Hyderabad Water Board turns off tap on corrupt field staff
Meter readers to submit proof of door lock.
Hyderabad: Those who do not pay for their drinking water and corrupt field staff to allow them to get away will no longer be able to dodge the Water Board.
From December 1, the Board will collect documentary evidence of people not paying up, including a picture of the meter, door lock cases and connection records.
The board is running up losses of Rs 11 crore every month and has the highest non-billed water supply after Delhi.
Government schemes like Mission Bhagiratha, Rural Water Supply (RWS) and other departments are major non-payers, apart from 27,000 households in the city. The Board supplied 32 million gallons per day to Mission Bhagiratha scheme and a bulk supply to the RWS.
The RWS owes the Water Board Rs 300 crore. This apart, on a daily basis water is supplied to government offices, educational institutes and hospitals, costing the board Rs 500 crore.
Government buildings are major defaulters of drinking water charges. If these dues are cleared, the Board will be able to pay to replace pipelines and instal sewer lines.
“The field staff inspect households and issue bills. There are several instances where they collect monthly hafta and ignore the billing. The Board is losing revenue due to this,” said a senior water board official.
From December 16, agencies will be given the job of bill collection. Pictures will be taken of houses that are locked or have no meter, and will be submitted to the Board. Such consumers will be pursued till the end of the month. Non-payment will result in disconnectionm” the offier said.
Out of 9.29 lakh consumers in the city, 2.6 lakh have meters. Meters will be fixed at bulk supply points to record the water supplied and used by consumers. “With this no one can escape paying for water,” he said.
With regard to water lost through leakages, the board has hired a private agency to inspect old water storage tanks and pipelines that need replacement. There are about 30 old reservoirs in the city, where water is wasted due to structural damage and pipelines that have outlived their life.