Amritsar MC cracks whip on water, sewerage bill defaulters

The Amritsar Municipal Corporation on Thursday disconnected several illegal water and sewerage connections and also took action against chronic defaulters, who failed to clear long-pending dues. The drive was carried out on the directions of MC Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh and supervised by Additional Commissioner Surinder Singh.

According to officials, despite repeated notices and reminders, many residents and commercial establishments continued to evade payment of their pending bills and had not regularised their illegal connections. Left with no option, the water and sewerage department launched a disconnection campaign across multiple areas. Action was taken in South constituency’s Dilbagh Nagar and Antaryami Colony, and in the East constituency at Sandhu Colony, Batala Road, and Gur Kripa Washing Centre, among other localities.

Additional Commissioner Surinder Singh said the civic body had already organised awareness camps in every constituency, urging people to regularise their illegal connections and clear dues. Notices had been served on 1,310 residential and 373 commercial defaulters. Of these, 600 connections were regularised.

The department has reported a significant increase in revenue collection this financial year. Against Rs 1.69 crore earned during the same period last year, the MC has collected Rs 4.72 crore in 2025-26, registering a jump of more than 280 per cent.

Surinder Singh warned that the disconnection drive would continue daily until all defaulters clear their dues. He appealed to the residents to pay their outstanding bills and seek necessary approvals for unauthorised connections to avoid punitive action.

It is worth mentioning here that a large number of water sewer connections in the city are illegally connected without any approval from the MC. Two deaths were reported at Khankot village this week due to contaminated water. MC officials claimed that the water contamination may be caused due to illegal connections installed by people on their own.