A Right to Information (RTI) query by social activist Vivek Velankar has revealed that various state and central governments owe water arrears of Rs105 crore to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) alone has water cess dues of ₹46 crore and Central Railway (CR) authorities ₹5 crore.
The dues to be paid by public works department (PWD), police, Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran, Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL), postal department, Akashwani and police collectively is ₹54 crore.
Velankar said that even as the annual budget allocation for the defence sector is ₹5 lakh crore, PCB has to pay ₹46 crore water arrears and CR has increased platform tickets rates yet need to foot the pending water bills.
However, this time, the PMC water department has warned defaulting departments that it will not hesitate to cut off water supply if dues are not paid within eight days of the receipt of their notice.
“In order to recover the arrears from these central and state government establishments, one has to pay attention towards the long pending non-payment of water bills by government organisations. The PMC administration must meet the heads of defaulting departments and warn them to cut off water supply. The then municipal commissioner Mahesh Zagade had stopped water supply of PCB and forced them to pay. Such action show that PMC deals with common and government defaulters on equal terms,” Velankar said.
Aniruddha Pawaskar, head, PMC water department, “We keep sending pending water bills to government departments and meet their senior officials. Court notices have been sent, including written reminders. The water supply will be cut off within eight days of the receipt of the current notice.”
{{/usCountry}}Aniruddha Pawaskar, head, PMC water department, “We keep sending pending water bills to government departments and meet their senior officials. Court notices have been sent, including written reminders. The water supply will be cut off within eight days of the receipt of the current notice.”
{{/usCountry}}PMC water supply department also provides water through a meter-based system to areas where demand is high.
In March 2022, PMC had a non-recovery of arrears wherein the amount has increased to around ₹600 crore.