Times
of India: Hyderabad: Thursday, 05 February 2015.
Water board
authorities have threatened to cut off supplies to government departments if
they fail to immediately clear bills pending for the last three years. An RTI
query revealed that dues from several government departments have mounted to a
whopping Rs 300 crore.
Hyderabad
Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) officials now say
that they are going to initiate action immediately. "We will issue red
notices and cut water supply if they do not pay up. We have been delaying the
process because a few departments are remitting their dues in small installments,"
said a senior water board official who did not wish to be named.
The
defaulters include GHMC (Rs 2.61 crore), education department (Rs 2.04 crore)
and police department (Rs 4.9 crore). However, the panchayat raj and rural
water supply scheme take the cake with a staggering outstanding amount of Rs
166.45 crore.
Administrative
officers in these departments who handle payments to the water board say that
they are aware of the problem but express helplessness due to delay in
sanctioning funds by the state government.
The GHMC,
however, seems to be looking for an escape route. "The HMWS&SB has dug
up many of our roads without informing or paying us. Let them pay us first and
only then shall we look into the matter," said C Rama Krishna Rao,
additional commissioner (administration) of GHMC.
Instead of
finding an excuse to increase water tariff, the water board should first force
government departments to pay the dues and improve its financial position,
opined M Padmanabha Reddy, secretary of Forum for Good Governance.
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