Hyderabad: The Metro Water Board has lost a long-running case and fined Rs 4.5 lakh for disconnecting the valid water connection of Sree Kanta Residency at Dharam Karan Road, Ameerpet.
Residents had approached the district consumer disputes redressal forum in 2008 after the S.R Nagar staff of HMWS&SB disconnected a legal connection and stopped issuing bills.
After eight years, the residents finally won the case, a significant one, since it now forms a precedent for consumers to act against the Board for interrupting valid connections.
One of the complainants said, “The Metro board installed a connection to S.K. Residency in 2005. In 2006, the Board stopped issuing water bills... The residents’ association followed this up several times by visiting the SR Nagar office to know why the complainants were not getting periodical bills, but nothing happened. Later, officers from SR Nagar threatened to disconnect the water connection. And in 2014, when none of the office-bearers were present, they disconnected the water connection citing pending dues. They even came to disconnect the sewerage connection. Since then, residents have been purchasing water from private dealers despite having a valid connection.”
The S.K. Residency Welfare Association approached the district consumer dispute redressal forum, which on June 28, 2016 issued a judgment in favor of them and ordered the Board to restore the drinking water connection, not to disconnect the existing sewerage connection and to allot a CAN number and issue monthly consumption bills. It also awarded a compensation of Rs 4.50 lakh and Rs 25,000 towards costs.
