Illegal connections and water theft continue to be a bane for the resource-starved Kerala Water Authority (KWA).
The Anti-Water Theft Squad of KWA, now merged with the Public Health (PH) division, had unearthed 593 violations pertaining to water connections, including theft and misuse, in the Thiruvananthapuram division in the past eight years.
In the past two years, 25 theft cases were directly brought to the knowledge of the division office. In the current month, three cases of illegal consumption were reported in the division.
A source in the water utility told The Hindu that a majority of these violations pertained to connections in domestic usage where pipes were diverted from the main lines ahead of the meter. Similarly, there were a number of instances wherein the water supplied under ‘domestic’ heads was being used for other purposes, including construction, sources said.
The major concern was the illegal tapping of water from main distribution lines, as in Mannanthala two years ago. The KWA had imposed a fine of Rs.30 lakh on a businessman at Mannanthala for the offence, a senior KWA official said.
“Just a few days ago, the North division office received a complaint over phone that the same person has started illegally tapping water. We are examining the complaint,” the official said.
A section of officials believed that the January decision to abolish the centralised squad would not augur well for the KWA.
“The best way to deal with the problem is to have a centralised squad with all resources, including trained manpower. The members of the team should be given incentives as in the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), the official said.
