Bengaluru: The Bangalore Water Supply & Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is resorting to all the tricks in the book to recover nearly Rs 5 crore that is due from the police department towards water bills, but without much success.
Deccan Chronicle reported on March 19 that the BWSSB had disconnected water supply to the police quarters on R.K. Mutt Road, depriving nearly 40 families of police constables of drinking water. The constables had complained that they were facing a harrowing time, despite the police department cutting Rs 250 from their salaries towards water charges.
Dr Lokesha A., Financial Adviser & Chief Accounts officer, BWSSB, said, “In March 2014, then BWSSB Chairman M.S. Ravishankar wrote to then Principal Secretary, Home Department, Jyothi Prakash Mirji, about the pending water dues which at that time till January 2014 stood at Rs 4,16,05,021. We keep sending notices and reminders to the police department to clear the dues. But they pay only nominal amounts that do not even cover the interest of the total pending bill. Our recovery team is in a fix, and we are also answerable to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG),” he said.
Police quarters and offices at the City Armed Reserves in and around Sirsi lane on Mysore Road have pending bills worth over Rs 2 crore, while residential police quarters and offices around RMC Yard, Rajajinagar, Kavalbyrasandra, Nandhini Layout, and Subramanyanagar police stations put together have pending bills of over Rs 1.5 crore. The police quarters at Yeshwanthapura and office buildings in Malleswaram and Srirampura have crossed Rs 65 lakh in pending bills, say officials from the accounts section of the BWSSB.
“As there are two government agencies involved, the issue has to be addressed by the heads,” said Mr Anjum Parvez, Chairman, BWSSB. “I will discuss it with the city police commissioner as the water bills pending are mostly from the city jurisdictions and then work out an amicable solution to recover the money in a phased manner,” he said.
