RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) will be stopping water supply to 18 residential colonies, the residents of which are said to not have paid their bills since 2009, with the payable charges amounting to a total of Rs350 million per year.

These colonies include Bokra, Shams Colony, Railway Colony, Dhoke Babu, Postal Colony, Dhoke Paracha, Motorway Chowk, Model Town, Coca Cola factory, Jhangi Syedan, the area near the Electric and Mechanical Engineering College, Golra Road, Haji Camp, Qasimabad, Naseerabad, Awan Town and British Homes.

RCB launched a campaign for recovering outstanding amounts in property tax and water supply charges in the cantonment areas since it is facing cash flow problems and is struggling to meet its expenses.

Last month, RCB decided to severe water connections to the areas where people do not pay for water supply or have set up illegal connections.

Civic authority claims residents of 18 colonies owe Rs350 million in water charges for each year since 2009

After it found that a large amount was still to be paid by the residents of an area by Peshawar Road, the board decided to cut water supply to the whole locality till the people pay their overdue bills.

Mohammad Khursheed, a resident of Naseerabad, said that RCB should only disconnect water supply to those who do not pay for it and not for the whole locality.

He said that the people in that area were already only getting water three times a week and that the civil authority was forcing people to stage demonstrations.

Residents of the area say that RCB is charging them for water supply when their area comes under Islamabad.

“A case about the jurisdiction of the area is pending with the court and till a decision is made, RCB should not take this action,” said Mohammad Muzamil, a resident of Haji Complex near Golra Mor.

The supply of water in the area is already insufficient and people have to call for water tankers, he said, adding that RCB should ask for payment when they improve their services.

RCB spokesperson Qaiser Mehmood, on the other hand, maintained that the areas where water supply is to be cut off came under the jurisdiction of the board.

“The area comes under RCB Ward no.1 and Malik Sajid was elected RCB member from these areas,” he said.

He explained that water supply lines were laid in these areas by RCB in the 1970s and that water was being supplied there from tube wells and the Khanpur Dam.

RCB is facing losses of Rs350 million every year because of the 25,032 residential consumers and 471 commercial consumers in the area.

“We have not received a single penny from locals of these areas since 2009 for the water they are supplied,” he added.

Though the civic authority serves notices, very few people pay for their water and the majority refuse to pay their bills, the spokesperson said.

“We went to the RCB magistrate as well, but the defaulters did not come to the hearing, which left us with no choice but to stop the supply of water,” Mr Mehmood said.

RCB member for Ward no. 1 Malik Sajid told Dawn that the elected members had advised the civic authority to not stop the supply of water because this will also affect those who do pay their bills.

Mr Sajid said that he had suggested for teams to be formed for checking on illegal connections in these 18 colonies and to prepare a list of the people who do and do not pay their bills. After this, the civic authority can cut off supply to those who don’t pay for water.

“It is a harsh step to stop the supply of water to a whole locality in this hot weather,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2016