Amit Bathla
Tribune News Service
Panchkula, January 25
Many city residents have expressed their despair over high water bills they have received from the Haryana Shahri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) after a gap of months due to the Covid-19 situation. Kamesh Chawla, a resident of Sector 21, said he received a bill of Rs19,444 this month, which was for a duration of eight months. “The bill stated a consumption of 1,784 units. Our water bill history for the past three-four years states we pay at an average of Rs400-500 for a two-month period. If the bill for the first four months last year was Rs1,750, how could the bill for the rest of the eight months be almost Rs2,000 a month? This when we are just two people in the house,” he said. Chawla said he visited the HSVP office but failed to get a reasonable justification for the inflated bill. “Finally, I lodged a complaint with the Chief Administrator, HSVP, but I didn’t receive any response. Now, the HSVP staff is threatening us with snapping the connection if the bill is not paid,” he alleged.
Hiten Patel, a resident of Sector 12, said he received a bill of Rs23,611 for a period from June and December 2020. Earlier, he used to get bills ranging from Rs1,800 to Rs2,200 for two months. Despite visiting the HSVP office many times, his problem could not be resolved, he claimed. HSVP Estate Officer Anil Kumar Doon couldn’t be contacted for his version on the issue.
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