Illegal water and drainage connections provided by corrupt municipal staff in connivance with the local body councillors are now under the scanner.

According to confidential sources, each municipal limit in south Chennai constituency has over 1,000 illegal water connections. A team of municipal officials is now identifying the illegal connections.

According to municipal sources, Pallavaram municipality had 923 illegal drainage and water connections. While 217 such connections have been regularised through penalties, but officials have yet to do anything about the other 623 connections.

The state government last year passed a government order directing the municipalities to identify the illegal connections. In the order the local bodies were directed to regularise the connections before August 31, 2010 or snap the illegal connections and impose penalties, sources said.

According to rough estimates there are at least 1,000 illegal connections in each municipal area including Alandur, Pallavaram, Tambaram and Pammal municipalities. All these connections have to be identified, snapped or regularised, according to the government order.

“I have been paying the water supply charge and the water tax for my new flat near Pallavaram Bazaar Road for the past year, but the water supply is erratic due to the illegal water connections,” said L. Usha, a government school teacher.

When contacted, a senior official said several municipal officials are colluding with local councillors to provide illegal water connections. The official said the issue would soon be probed and the illegal water connections regularised.

“The enhanced tax collection from this will help Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD) and Metro Water provide better water supply, the official said.