THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sunil Kumar (name changed), a consumer of Kerala Water Authority in Thiruvananthapuram last paid his water bill in August 2011. He paid Rs 530 then. Nine years later, the dues have accumulated to a whopping Rs 2,13,27,616. He still holds the connection under the consumer number VAZ/3871/N and the meter reading was taken till December 2018. KWA is going to disconnect Sunil’s connection on January 22 before taking further steps to recover the dues.
There are thousands of people in the state who have accumulated similar arrears over the years. Faced with a mounting loss, KWA has initiated steps to recover money from consumers. The 29 PH divisions of KWA have sent thousands of revenue recovery notices so far. Thiruvananthapuram PH Division (North) which has 1,38,813 connections have sent notices to 900 customers for revenue recovery so far. PH Division in Kochi has sent over 1,000 notices, said executive engineer of PH Division (Kochi), Muhammed Shahi. The money required to be paid is arrears and paying the amount has become a daunting task for domestic consumers. But according to KWA officers, some of the revenue recovery procedures can be avoided owing to technical reasons.