ONGOLE: The Ongole Municipal Corporation(OMC) is set to launch a special drive to collect Rs 12 crore in pending deposit amounts from households that availed water tap connections under the Union Government’s AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) scheme. The deposits were not collected from beneficiaries over the past four years.
The AMRUT scheme, aimed to provide every household with access to a tap with assured water supply, sewerage connections, and to enhance city amenities through greenery and public spaces.
Under the first phase, the OMC planned to provide tap water connections to 6,500 households with an initial fund sanction of Rs 3 crore. The deposit amounts were set at Rs 200 for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families and Rs 6,900 for others, payable in eight instalments after receiving the connection.
While water connections were provided to around 5,900 households, certain OMC staff misappropriated the collected deposit amounts.
As a result, beneficiaries are only paying a monthly tax of Rs 60, and no efforts have been made to recover the pending deposits, which have now accumulated to Rs 12 crore.
According to Municipal Engineer Sk Johny, the OMC is preparing to recover these funds. “In a recent tax collection review meeting, OMC Commissioner K Venkateswara Rao directed officials to issue demand notices, combining the unpaid water tap deposit amounts with house tax dues,” Johny explained.
Failure to complete the first phase of the AMRUT scheme has also prevented the OMC from receiving approval for an additional 6,500 water connections under the programme’s next five-year phase.