BENGALURU: An eight-year ongoing battle between the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) and 300 families living in BDA flats at Kallahalli near Halasuru over the issue of water bills will come to a head shortly. Due to pandemic restrictions on public gatherings, a five-day protest by only two representatives, both senior citizens, is set to happen at the BWSSB offices.
According to the BWSSB, the total water bill including arrears and interest amount to be paid by all the families since 2013 comes to Rs 93 lakh. However, the residents of Kallahalli BDA flats Ist and IInd Phase stress their water bill charges are only Rs 27 lakh out of which they have already paid Rs 26 lakh. There is a common water bill generated for all houses.
To end this impasse, 70-year-old R Muralidharan and 62-year-old R Mohan will protest from August 16 to 20 at their local BWSSB office at Indira Nagar and at Cauvery Bhavan. A booklet highlighting their problems has been readied by them for distribution to BWSSB officials, public and the media during this period.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, president of Kallahalli BDA Flats IInd Phase R Muralidharan said the crux of the festering problem boils down to the specific billing structure which has been considered for their apartment for the purposes of billing. BWSSB charges us a flat rate of Rs 22 per thousand litres of consumption.
"BWSSB is classifying us as a high rise building. Under Rule 36 (1) (a) and (d) of the Bangalore Water Supply Regulations, 1965, we had been paying water bills till June 2013. From July 2013, we have been charged the high rise building tariff. The amendment Act in 2009 clearly states that high rise refers to more than four floors, ground floor plus three floors and above,” he explained. “None of the apartments rise above four floors and so it cannot be called a high-rise one,” he claimed.
Muralidharan added that the interest chargeable was only 1.6% simple interest per month on unpaid bills but the Board had levied higher rates. “The BWSSB agreed to reduce the Rs 98 lakh bill they had charged by Rs 22 lakh after our repeated representations and it was brought down to Rs 75 lakh. But later on they added interest on the arrears as well on the pending interest amount and brought it to Rs 93 lakh, which is unfair accounting practice,” he charged.
A senior BWSSB official denied resorting to any kind of unfair practice as the billing procedure was a computerised, automated one. “Under Section 32 (A) of the BWSSB Act, apartments which have three floors and above are considered high-rise ones,” he said. The official pointed out that the Water Board had not disconnected their water supply despite such a huge pending bill.
Asked about the way out of the impasse, the official said there was a possibility that the interest amount amounting to over Rs 20 lakh could be waived off, provided its Law department and the Board members of the BWSSB agree to it. "If that happens, then the apartments still have to pay the balance amount after its deduction," the official added.