BENGALURU: A whopping Rs 355 crore is the water bill arrears to the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB). The leading defaulters are the government departments of both State and Centre functioning in the city, say official sources.
Due to sustained pressure and follow-up, the BWSSB has managed to collect Rs 336.8 crore for the financial year 2021-2022 which will end in a fortnight. The arrears have piled up over decades and includes an 18 per cent annual interest on unpaid bills.
A top official said, “The collection for March will be be done only in April. After much effort, we managed to collect Rs 2.18 crore from our biggest defaulter, the police department. We also collected Rs 1.91 crore from the defence department, and Rs 30 lakh from the Railways.”
However, the sum collected appears to be only a fraction of the outstanding amount. “Of the outstanding amount, the same three departments are the top defaulters - police owe Rs 41.98 crore, defence Rs 22.25 crore and the Railways Rs 11.8 crore,” the official explained.
While the water connection is immediately disconnected when such dues accrue in case of commercial establishments, the protection that government departments get since as part of the government apparatus is making them ignore regular payments, another official said.
Compared to them, the amount due from private parties was minimal, he added. Asked about it, chairman N Jayaram told TNIE, “We do not disconnect water connections to government departments over non-payment.
Some of them have delayed payment as there is dispute over the billed amount and they feel it is too high while some of them genuinely do not have the resources available to pay the bill.” The BWSSB was going all out to collect the amount due to it with repeated reminders sent to officials in departments, the chairman said.
Dept-wise dues
Rs 41.98 cr police
Rs 22.25 cr defence
Rs 11.8 cr Railways