Sriganganagar : Water Supply Department in Suratgarh has started a campaign to recover the outstanding amount from the consumers. Along with this, illegal connections to the homes of people using free water are also being disconnected. According to officials of the water supply department, 13 thousand drinking water connections in the city are operational on paper, while thousands of others are using free water through illegal connections. Apart from this, the consumers who have connections are also not paying the bills and are availing the free water service.
Following the departmental orders to recover the outstanding amount, the PHED department has issued notices to about 100 consumers to deposit the outstanding amount. Despite this, if the consumers do not deposit the bill amount, the officers and employees of the department are going door to door to collect the outstanding amount. PHED department’s AEN Ajay Saharan said on Tuesday evening that the department’s team has recovered a total amount of Rs 60 thousand from 6 consumers in the last two days. This includes 2 service stations and 4 domestic consumers. The serious thing is that due to the negligence of the department, consumers are facing outstanding dues for 3 to 4 years. In such a situation, the department, showing strictness, has disconnected 10 connections in 2 days, so that consumers can deposit the bill amount. AEN Ajay Saharan, Babu Kaluram Bishnoi, Narendra Purohit, Mohanlal Godara and Mangilal Verma were involved in the dues recovery campaign.
Rs 5 crore outstanding in the city, yet people are drinking free water
According to departmental officials, despite the outstanding amount of about Rs 5 crore in the city, consumers have been using free water for a long time. Apart from the connection holders, illegal connection holders are also taking water for free from the water supply department. People are making commercial and domestic use of government water by making illegal connections to the drinking water supply pipeline overnight on Saturdays and Sundays or other government holidays.
Consumers who have connections only on paper also owe crores of rupees. The department is taking action to disconnect the connections of the connection holders for not depositing the outstanding amount, but the department is showing laxity in taking action against the illegal connection holders.
