HYDERABAD: Despite the state government providing for 20 kilolitres (KL) drinking water free to eligible consumers, resident welfare associations (RWAs) have been looting members.
One of these RWAs is Sitco, which is popular as Malayasian Township, whose customer account number (CAN) is 614202520. Though it is not a legitimate RWA, it has been collecting Rs 600 towards water charges.
The association has collected Rs 75 lakh towards water charges from residents despite Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) supplying 20 KL of water per month for free per water connection after the Aadhaar numbers of consumers are linked with their CAN.
Such blatant misuse of the government largesse has occurred due to RWAs, local politicians and field staff of water board joining hands.
RWAs had also cheated the government when the latter gave flood relief of Rs10,000 cash to victims of floods in October 2020. Hundreds of families did not get this benefit. Essentially, this was the reason why the number of seats won by TRS in GHMC came down to 56 from 99.
According to Uppala Gopal Rao, a resident of Malayasian Township, which consists of 15,076 flats, the HMWS&SB stopped issuing water bills after announcement of free drinking water scheme. It asked residents to link their Aadhaar numbers with their CAN to avail the facility of 20 KL free drinking water.
Gopal Rao pointed out that the board issued Rs 22 lakh as bills for water supplied from January to May while offering Rs 14 lakh as subsidy since most consumers had linked their CAN numbers with Aadhaar. He further said in June, the water board issued bills worth Rs 5 lakh and offered a subsidy of Rs 4 lakh.
"Yet, since January, the management committee of RWA has been collecting Rs 600 per flat towards water charges, apart from regular maintenance. Despite implementation of free water scheme, the association collected Rs 75 lakh since January from residents in the township. How can we not be allowed to enjoy the subsidy given by the government,” Gopal Rao asked.
He requested the state government and HMWS&SB to investigate into the issue and do justice to the residents. When contacted, water board officials said they will look into the issue and, if need be, book a police case against the RWA management.
