HYDERABAD: Even as the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) is making every effort to ensure uninterrupted drinking water supply, the consumers in the Greater Hyderabad are enjoying the benefits but refusing to clear the pending bills. If officials are to be believed, over 49,300 consumers are refusing to pay the bills and they owe a total of Rs 569 crore to the Water Board.
The Board, in fact, identified these 49,300 Consumer Account Numbers (CANs) as “never paid CANs”. The Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Division 1, which covers the Old City, tops the list with 5,950 “never paid CANs” and Rs 14.35 crore worth pending bills. It is followed by O&M Division 4 with 1,648 CANs and Rs 8.26 crore pending bills and Division 33 with 3,993 CANs and Rs 6.82 crore pending bills.
Consumers in Division 21, which has seven bulk CANs, owe a whopping Rs 503 crore to the Board. In view of such large unpaid bills by the consumers, the HMWSSB authorities are turning their focus on “never paid” and commercial CAN connections across the city and are preparing to take strict action, which includes disconnection of water connections.
During a recent meeting, HMWSSB Managing Director M Dana Kishore asked the officials to cut tap connections of consumers who have not paid the bills. The authorities have been instructed to collect 100 per cent bills from the defaulters whose connections have a pipe size of 40 mm or more as well as 50 per cent of the arrears from the remaining commercial customers by the end of October.
Division 1 covers most of the Old City, including Darulshifa, Tadban, Bahadurpura, Goshamahal, Nawabshah Kunta, Chandulal Baradari, Falaknuma, Puranapul, Purani Haveli, Hussaini Alam, Devi Bagh, Engine Bowli, Esamia Bazar, Dabeer pura, Mir Chowk, Moghalpura, Petla Burj, Noor Khan Bazar, Khilwath and Ramnaspura. It tops the defaulter list with dues of Rs 14.35 crore. Division 4, which covers Gokul Nagar, Feelkhana, Begum Bazar, Abids, Aghapura, Bazarghat, Gulzar Houz, Hill Fort, Gowliguda, Ramkote, Troop Bazar, Fathe Maidan, Khairatabad, Sultan Bazar, Khairatabad, Jambagh, Badi Chowdi, Red Hills and Boggulkunta, has `8.26 crore worth of uncleared bills.