After disconnecting several water lines in the city, the Water Board has warned defaulters that it will disconnect even sewerage lines unless they clear the dues. The Water Board disconnected 272 water lines, both illegal connections and supply to longstanding defaulters in domestic and commercial category, between September 24 and October 6. These 272 defaulters owe the Board Rs 1.19 crore, officials said.
The Board suspects there are about 1 lakh illegal water connections and more than 1 lakh illegal sewerage connections in the city. Of the total 7.95 lakh connections in the city, more than 2 lakh house owners have not paid their bills for three months or more, working up over Rs 350 crore in dues. Sources said even 7.95 lakh is a gross underestimation of the actual number of connections.
Pointing to a gross mismatch, a source said GHMC’s property tax database said the city has nearly 13 lakh house owners or (property tax payers), while the civic body said there is scope to increase the property taxpayer base up to 15 lakh. The GHMC tax data excludes a large number of slum houses, the source said. The recent census figures, however, put the number of houses in Hyderabad at over 20 lakh. “This simply means there are a huge number of illegal water connections. Though officials claim there could be 1 lakh illegal connections, going by the tax records and census operation figures, it could well be over 2 lakh,” the source said.