HYDERABAD: Even as the Secunderabad Cantonment Board is pressing defaulters to clear water bill dues, allegations are being levelled against it for not supplying drinking water even on alternate days. Residents in slums also allege that they are being billed Rs 315 a month instead of Rs 160 which was fixed by the board. SCB authorities have been serving notices to water bill defaulters for over a month.
SCB supplies drinking water to eight civilian wards. Six months ago it had decided to collect a monthly sum of Rs 160 a month from slum-dwellers and Rs 315 from residents of other colonies. Residents of the eight civilians wards accuse SCB of issuing Rs 315 a month per household even in the slums.
SCB pays a monthly sum of Rs 2 crore to Hyderabad Metro Water Supply & Sewerage Board and owes it around Rs 17 crore to it. The water board has been issuing notices to SCB asking it to clear the dues. The SCB caters to 30,000 consumers with a daily supply of nearly 5 million gallons which is supplied by HMWS&SB. Municipal administration minister KT Rama Rao had announced on the floor of the Assembly in the past that SCB’s water dues would be cleared by the government but the government has not kept its word.
The SCB CEO has requested the minister to clear all arrears which have piled up due to the interest levied by HMWS&SB. Speaking to Express, SCB vice-president J Ramakrishna said the government had already announced that the dues would be cleared. “We have received complaints from slum-dwellers that they are being charged Rs 315 a month for water. We will discuss the issue at the board meeting,” he said.
M. Rajkumar, superintendent of water department of SCB, refuted the allegations and said the board had been conducting special drives and collecting dues from defaulters.