Hyderabad: An estimated 3,000 houses in the the Secunderabad Cantonment Board area have not been receiving monthly demand notices of Rs 315 towards their water bill, billing officials confirmed to this newspaper.
The SCB staff hasn’t been able to track these houses. The figure could be higher: In September the SCB staff identified unbilled houses and illegal connections and collected revenues Rs 98 lakh only from Rasoolpura.
SCB chief executive officer Sujata Gupta said a special drive would be taken up in each ward and officials would inspect each house to check the connection.
According to records, the arrears have run up to Rs 8 crore in over a decade. The 3,000 unbilled connections include consumers who have not registered with the Unique Identification Number.
The SCB area has more than 21,000 water connections of which about which 16,000 are registered with board. The consumers receive demand notices directly.
One Mr Alok Jain of Radhika Colony said, “We are ready to pay bills provided we receive them.” Mr P. Saikanth of West Marredpally said, “I don’t remember when I last received a water bill. As a responsible citizen I had brought this to the notice of SCB officials but nothing came out of it.”
Mr M. Raj Kumar of SCB waterworks division said consumers who have not been receiving demand notices should send in their details including the house number, ward number, area and phone number to sww.scb@gmail.com.
After registration, a unique consumer number will be issued and conveyed to the consumer. With the help of the UCN, consumers can log on to scb.gov.in and pay bills online. The system also allows consumers to book tankers, he said. Through the special drive conducted by SCB staff, unbilled consumers can also make one time settlements when approached.
lots of water but SCB has no place to store
While there is no scarcity of water in the Cantonment area, there is a dearth of reservoirs, especially in Hasmathpet and Annanagar of Rasoolpura.
The Water Board supplies 58 lakh gallons per day to the SCB but there is enough storage It is thanks to the 11 inlet points that colonies like Balamrai, Dhanlakshmi and Shantiniketan get direct supply from the Water Board and do not depend on SCB storage.
Bulk supplies to AWHO, Radhika, Asian Paints, Rukmini and DRDO Complex have, in fact, lowered the burden of SCB to construct reservoirs as these colonies store it.
Colonies in Bowenpally receive water every second day since there is one storage tank. Even if more water is received, it cannot be stored.
Mr M. Raj Kumar, superintendent of Water Works, SCB, said the board had eight pump houses located at Balamrai, Bowenpally, Mahindra Hills, Gun Rock, Gun Bazaar, Karkhana, Lothkunta and AOC.
Water is received from the Water Board at these pump houses and pumped to colonies.Apart from this, there are 11 inlet points from where water is supplied through the Water Board pipeline. The board receives 58 lakh gallons per day but the demand is 60 LGPD in the Cantonment area. “More reservoirs are needed to store water,” he said.
Some sections of residents of the Cantonment are dependent on water tankers. Mr Hemanshu Naga of Annanagar said, “Due to irregular water supply and low pressure, we set aside a budget for SCB and private water tankers. The monthly water bill is Rs 315 but another Rs 1000 per house per month is set aside for tankers.”
SCB CEO Sujatha Gupta has proposed to build reservoirs in Hasmathpet and Rasoolpura, which will be put on the agenda at the board meeting for approval.
