BANGALORE: People are aware of Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board’s (BWSSB) inability to supply sufficient water to consumers.
But some may not be aware of their inefficiency in collecting dues from government schools. In the latest case of unthinking action, they cut off water supply to two government schools in Cox Town without any warning. The Government Girls’ School and Government Boys’ School are the defaulters.
While the Govt Boys’ School has to pay Rs 55,166 (arrears Rs 25,661 and Rs 29,475 as interest on arrears), the Govt Girls’ School has to pay Rs 1,51,256 (arrears Rs 1,24,326 and Rs 26,900 interest on arrears).
Ironically, neither the BWSSB authorities nor the headmaster or headmistress were able to give details on how long the water bills are pending. ``These bills are pending for quite a long time. It has become a routine task for us to issue bills to these two schools every month, but the authorities concerned are not taking any initiative to c l e a r the dues,’’ says Aswathnarayana Gowda, block education officer. Due to lack of water supply, the students are compelled to bring water from their homes. “The borewell water is not fit for drinking,’’ complains an eighth-standard student.
However, Aswathnarayana Gowda of the education department said that it was the responsibility of the respective schools to make the payment. ``We have no provision to sanction money to pay water bills. The respective schools get development fund from the education department every year and the funds should be used to pay the bills,’’ says Gowda.
Residents of Cox Town and surrounding areas are not happy with the perfunctory attitude of authorities concerned. ``I demand the BWWSB to restore the water supply immediately and take measures to collect the arrears from the education department which has no dearth for funds,’’ says NS Ravi, president, Bharathinagar Residents’ Welfare Association.
Meanwhile, S Raghu, MLA from CV Raman Nagar Assembly said that he would try to restore the water connection for the benefit of the students. ``I have already written a letter to Katta Subramanya Naidu, Minister for Excise, Information, ITBT and BWSSB to waive off the arrears and restore the water connection on humanitarian grounds,’’ said Raghu. The million dollar question is what happened to the maintenance fund released by the education department to these two schools and who is responsible for the non-payment of water bills?