Amritsar civic body gears up to hold camps to regularise illegal water connections

With a large section of the population dependent on illegal connections for drinking water, the civic body has decided to hold camps to regularise residents’ water connections.

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According to information, there are 2.65 lakh households in the city, but only 1.92 lakh water and sewerage connections are registered with the municipal corporation. Sources in the water and sewerage supply wing of the municipal corporation claimed that after the installation of new water supply lines under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) during the past few years, the number of illegal connections has increased up to 70,000.

The regularisation of water sewerage connections will not only increase the revenue of the municipal corporation, but also help in policy planning. Now, tubewells often get defunct or fail to fulfil requirements of the public as these were installed to meet the requirement of a number of registered connections. The illegal connections put more burden on tubewells. Before the implementation of the canal-based surface water project, all the connections should be regularised, otherwise the project would not meet the expectations of public, said an official.

To address this issue, MC Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh held a meeting with officials of the Operation and Maintenance Cell and the Water Supply and Sewerage Department recently.

The meeting discussed issues related to water and sewerage connections within the municipal limits of the city. The Municipal Corporation Commissioner said camps would be organised at the zonal level to regularise connections that have already been provided to households through various projects.

During these camps, forms for property tax assessment will also be filled out so that the water supply and sewerage connections can be interlinked with property tax records. The Municipal Corporation Commissioner said the regularisation of connections would not only increase the MC’s revenue, but also help in policy planning. He appealed to the general public to get their unauthorized connections regularized voluntarily.

The residents would require documents, such as the connection form, self-declaration, copy of property registry, Aadhaar card, electricity bill, two passport-size photographs of the applicant and copy of property tax receipt. Aulakh said the schedule of these camps would be announced soon.

The official said if residents do not regularise their unauthorised water and sewerage connections, action will be taken under Section 189 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976, after issuing notices.