BENGALURU: Following directions from Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara to crack down on individuals who have opted for unauthorised water connections in the city, the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) has begun registering FIRs against water pilferers over the past couple of days.
Illegal water connections cause an enormous loss to the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) as all this water goes unmetered and therefore, unbilled. Despite two vigilance squads constituted by BWSSB referring 465 complaints on water theft to police stations across the city, most cops were not filing cases against the individuals. Even an order by the police commissioner in May to file FIRs against those stealing water did not have much of an impact.
Additional Director General of Police, BMTF, Prashant Kumar Thakur told TNIE that they had begun filing FIRs on all complaints sent to them by the Water Supply Board. “We are booking cases under Section 379 IPC as well as the BWSSB Act.”There needs to be a realisation that water is a commodity, and stealing it is a bookable offence, the top cop added.
BWSSB chairman Tushar Girinath told TNIE that he has asked the sub-divisions to book a minimum of two cases at the earliest, in order to intensify the crackdown on water theft. “There are 31 offices and at least 64 cases would get booked,” he said.
There is a high incidence of water theft cases in Koramangala, Sahakar Nagar, Byrasandra, Sultanpalya, Hoodi, Ramamurthy Nagar, Banashankari and Majestic. Those indulging in water theft could face imprisonment of up to two years, as per a recent amendment brought about in by the BWSSB Act.
Upload manhole pics on FB page: BWSSB chairman
BWSSB has managed to meet the November 30 deadline set by the chief secretary for levelling of all uneven manholes on the city’s roads. In his bid to rid the city of all such manholes, BWSSB chairman Tushar Girinath appealed to the public to bring to the Board’s notice, pictures of any manhole higher or lower than the road level. “We want the public to send them to our Facebook page so that there is a record. It will help us take the specific engineer to task and set it right immediately.” “We have already fixed 10,000-plus manholes identified on all major roads in our survey. However, there would still be unidentified manholes on small roads and bylanes, and we want to level them all,” he added. Another official said with road work going on all over the city, manholes at a higher or lower level are expected.