150 lines tapping water illegally cut since January

CHENNAI: Metrowater has disconnected 150 water connections since January over various illegalities with one of the major ones being use of motors and pumps to draw water illegally from main pipelines.
On Tuesday alone, two connections - one at Kandhasamy Koil Street in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar and another at Somasundram Third Street in Anna Nagar - were disconnected.
According to a Metrowater official, if a motor is used to illegally draw water, the connection will be disconnected for three months and renewed only after a penalty of Rs 20,000 is paid. But now, due to the drought-like situation, they have decided to not renew the connections for the entire period until the monsoon season. Currently, there are about 10.4 lakh consumers.
“People are aware that the punishment is severe and we have increased awareness as well, but many continue to do it. Mostly, it is the public who complain about lower pressure and lesser water supply which leads to Metrowater finding these illegalities. Also, every engineer goes on surprise visits during supply time,” said a senior Metrowater official.
An engineer from Thiru Vi Ka Nagar confirmed that complaints were on the rise and people were getting more innovative in using pumps. He said most residents either use a hose pipe connected to the main pipe underground directly to the sump. Using a motor, the water is pumped. “They place the hose only when the supply is on and remove it immediately when the supply stops. So, we often inspect when supply is on to catch them red-handed,” said the engineer.
In some cases, a motor is placed directly in the sump to pump extra water. “Since we are inspecting regularly, we found many people concealing motors underground using cement or concrete. Since we cannot dig immediately, we search their homes for the motor switches. And we place a bucket in the sump and check the water pressure to confirm the usage,” said the official.