Post lockdown, BWSSB collects over Rs 100 crore in bill arrears for three months

BENGALURU: After a lull caused by the onset of the pandemic, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has now begun the task of collecting pending water bills from the public, commercial and government organisations. The board has also detected a total of 43,000 unauthorised water and sanitary connections across the city. BWSSB Chairman N Jayaram said, “In the last three months, we have managed to collect a substantial portion of the arrears due. In July, we collected Rs 31.82 crore and Rs 36.46 crore in August. Till September 24, we collected Rs 40.08 crore.” 

The monthly revenue of the board from water and sanitary bills ranges between Rs 100 and Rs 110 crore, he added. Most commercial establishments have now started opening up facilitating the collections.
In addition to the pending arrears, officials have also unearthed 10,344 illegal water connections and 32,858 unauthorised sanitary connections, the chairman said. By July-end, the board had identified over 20,000 illegal connections and began cracking down on those. 

The violations are rampant now in the City Municipal Council (CMC) areas, he said. Rajarajeshwari, Dasarahalli, Bommanahalli, Krishnarajapuram, Mahadevapura, Byatarayanapura and Yelahanka, have been added to BWSSB after they were brought under the City Corporation limits. Under Regulation 55A of the Bangalore Water Supply Regulations 1965, the penalty for illegal water connections for violation up to one year is 20% of pro rata charges (one-time payment for water and sanitary connections), 30% for one to two years, 40% for two to three years, and 50% for violations that have continued for three years and above, an official said. Households or establishments that connect their sewers with BWSSB without written permission will have to pay a penalty of Rs 5,000 as sanitary cess along with the pro-rata penalty, he added.