Hyderabad: The Water Board on Saturday issued guidelines for the regularisation of illegal connections under the voluntary disclosure scheme. Water Board managing director M. Dana Kishore said the scheme was being reintroduced for a month. According to the guidelines, an order can be sanctioned by the officer concerned in two days. A sanction for 15 mm (1/2 inch connection) in houses up to 300 sq.yds will be issued by manager (engineer); for 15mm (1/2 inch)-20 mm (3/4 inch, 300-600 sq.yds by the deputy general manager and 20mm (3/4 inch)-25 mm (1 inch), 300-600 sq.yds by the general manager (engineering).
If the VDS time is not utilised by the unauthorised households and if the same was disclosed by a third-party informant double the connection charges will be imposed and 25 per cent of the one-time penalty will be given to the informant. The one-time opportunity will be given to customers to fix meters in two months. After that, double the water charges will be levied. If the meters are still not connected, the supply line will be disconnected.
All domestic consumers who fix meters from August 1 to September 30 will be given 5 per cent discount per month provided the meter is in working condition for 12 months. After the expiry of the time limit, the board will levy double the charges. Eight agencies have been selected to supply meters at Rs 1,500 each. The board will pay linemen Rs 200 per illegal non-BPL connection unearthed. The Water Board will also launch a mobile app for linemen on August 2, Mr Kishore said. The app will help linemen upload operation and maintenance of water supply, sewerage and billing issues.
