Coimbatore: When Shiva S M, a resident of Kothari Layout near Singanallur, completed building his space a yr in the past, he straight away approached the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation for a water connection. But the civic body instructed him that it had temporarily stopped giving water connections after a failed monsoon. A yr later and with the reservoirs full, Shiva continues to be operating from pillar to publish for a water connection.
"The corporation is not even accepting my application," Shiva said.
The civic body has been turning down identical packages since closing September mentioning depleting water levels within the reservoirs. This January, the corporation had said it would get started offering new connections once the reservoir levels pass up. Following copious inflow after the monsoon, Siruvani, Pillur and Aliyar are brimming. But the civic body isn't accepting packages for water connections, nor has it cleared the pending ones.
Former AIADMK councillor S Manimeghalai said she used to be getting widespread court cases from residents of quite a lot of wards and zones on pending water connections. "I get calls from G N Mills and various parts of the city," she said.
Corporation resources say more than 10,000 families are awaiting new connections. "We have been instructed not to provide any," said a corporation water supply reliable.
While the suspension stays in place, it's burning a hollow within the pockets of residents. Shiva said he used to be spending more than Rs 1,000 each week on tankers for water supply. "New connections were not given due to a failed monsoon last year. But now that the reservoir levels are up, it is strange that the corporation is still not providing water connections," said Shiva.
Former councilors say the absence of an elected council is usually a reason. "If there was an elected council, we would raise the issue during the monthly council meetings. But now there is no platform to talk about people's problems," said S M Samy, former DMK councilor. He said just about 2,000 such packages were pending with the corporation.
According to a corporation source, absence of council isn't the one reason. "Councillors used to get commissions from households for providing water connections. Since there are no councilors now, there is a fear of losing out on the commissions," he said.
But by means of not offering water connections, the corporation too is losing out on income. "The corporation earns around `2.5 crore per month as water charges and also gets a lump sum as one-time water deposit charges. The civic body is losing out on this revenue," said a retired accounts division personnel.
Corporation commissioner Okay Vijayakarthikeyan said the civic body used to be addressing the problem.
"We are in the process of providing regular and uniform water supply across the city. We are gradually stepping up the supply levels to various areas," he said. "We will assess the water distribution after this and start providing new connections in a phased manner," Vijayakarthikeyan said.
"The corporation is not even accepting my application," Shiva said.
The civic body has been turning down identical packages since closing September mentioning depleting water levels within the reservoirs. This January, the corporation had said it would get started offering new connections once the reservoir levels pass up. Following copious inflow after the monsoon, Siruvani, Pillur and Aliyar are brimming. But the civic body isn't accepting packages for water connections, nor has it cleared the pending ones.
Former AIADMK councillor S Manimeghalai said she used to be getting widespread court cases from residents of quite a lot of wards and zones on pending water connections. "I get calls from G N Mills and various parts of the city," she said.
Corporation resources say more than 10,000 families are awaiting new connections. "We have been instructed not to provide any," said a corporation water supply reliable.
While the suspension stays in place, it's burning a hollow within the pockets of residents. Shiva said he used to be spending more than Rs 1,000 each week on tankers for water supply. "New connections were not given due to a failed monsoon last year. But now that the reservoir levels are up, it is strange that the corporation is still not providing water connections," said Shiva.
Former councilors say the absence of an elected council is usually a reason. "If there was an elected council, we would raise the issue during the monthly council meetings. But now there is no platform to talk about people's problems," said S M Samy, former DMK councilor. He said just about 2,000 such packages were pending with the corporation.
According to a corporation source, absence of council isn't the one reason. "Councillors used to get commissions from households for providing water connections. Since there are no councilors now, there is a fear of losing out on the commissions," he said.
But by means of not offering water connections, the corporation too is losing out on income. "The corporation earns around `2.5 crore per month as water charges and also gets a lump sum as one-time water deposit charges. The civic body is losing out on this revenue," said a retired accounts division personnel.
Corporation commissioner Okay Vijayakarthikeyan said the civic body used to be addressing the problem.
"We are in the process of providing regular and uniform water supply across the city. We are gradually stepping up the supply levels to various areas," he said. "We will assess the water distribution after this and start providing new connections in a phased manner," Vijayakarthikeyan said.
Dams full, but new water connections not in pipeline
![Dams full, but new water connections not in pipeline]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
November 18, 2017
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