Water wastage continues as Amritsar MC looks the other way

Charanjit Singh Teja

Amritsar, June 20

Despite instructions to take action or impose penalty for misuse of potable water, the Municipal Corporation has failed to implement it on ground. As per the instructions, one can’t wash vehicles and floor using water pipes, but residents regularly violate the orders.

In June 2018, the MC Commissioner had issued a notification, stating that if a household is found wasting water for the first time, he or she will have to pay Rs 1,000. If the same household repeats the offence, it will have to pay Rs 2,000. As per the MC notification, the water connection of habitual offenders (third offence) will be snapped and they will have to pay Rs 5,000 to get back the connection. The directions were annually repeated by the incumbent MC Commissioners in the past but not a single resident or violator was punished.

The misuse of water still goes unchecked. Not only the general public, government institutions are also among the major violators. The water tanks installed over urinals and the main building of Nehru Shopping Complex overflow for hours as a matter of routine. The Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) failed to make any effort to stop the wastage of water. Ironically, no one imposed a penalty on the AIT. Similarly, leakage of potable water supply lines of MC is a common sight. Taps installed in the markets can be seen running without any use.

Even the residents are not concerned over the water crisis as they can be seen washing cars and floor using water pipes in every locality in the morning. The Local Bodies Department suggested to the residents to wash their car with a bucket of water and use water with care but rarely do people follow it. During the past few years, a large number of swimming pools were made operational in the urban localities. These commercially operated pools use a huge quantity of water daily but do not have any approval from MC.

PC Sharma, a social activist, said, “Not only residents, government departments, including the civic body offices, also can be seen wasting water. Even the broken taps are not being repaired. The water supply and sewerage wing of MC does not pay visits to check the misuse of water. There should be regular check on the misuse of water not only in commercial units but residential areas too.”