E-Paper
Regularising illegal water-sewer connections: 3 Ludhiana MC staffers in the soup for fleecing residents
The Ludhiana MC employees were seen charging ₹800 against the actual fee of ₹200 for regularising the water-sewer connections; the Class 3 and 4 employees fleeced eight residents of ₹2,500
Three municipal corporation employees conning people on the pretext of regularising their illegal water-sewer connections under the one-time settlement policy found themselves in a soup after there antics were captured on camera on Thursday.
The accused, EPD Avtar Singh, peon Varun Kumar and sewerman Karan Sood, were captured fleecing residents in Ram Nagar of Ward 27. The employees were seen charging ₹800 against the actual fee of ₹200 for regularising the connections. The Class 3 and 4 employees fleeced eight residents of ₹2,500. They were made to return the money. A video of the incident, which was widely circulated on social media, also shows the staffers apologising to the public after their con was discovered.
Superintending engineer Rajinder Singh said strict departmental action has been recommended against the employees. Municipal corporation commissioner Pardep Sabharwal also marked an inquiry to joint commissioner Ankur Mahindroo. He also asked residents to check the rates at the MC website and ask for receipts while making payment for getting connections regularised.
591 illegal connections caught in two zones
With the MC starting door-to-door surveys to check illegal water-sewer connections, 591 illegal connections were found in Zones A and D. The report of the other two zones is being compiled.
The survey is being conducted in four blocks of the MC, including blocks 29, 31, 32 and 34, which comprise around 2-lakh properties.
Around 1,100 properties were checked in areas falling under the Zone D and around 1,300 in Zone A, of which 281 and 310 properties were found to have illegal connections in either zones.
With the OTS policy getting a lukewarm response, mayor Balkar Sandhu had on November 9 directed the MC to conduct a door-to-door survey in four major blocks of the city to catch defaulters and regularise their connections. Only around 4,000 defaulters have applied under the policy, while the MC suspects that there are over 1 lakh illegal connections in the city.
