RAWALPINDI: The chronic defaulters of Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) have paid Rs37.48 million during a drive launched by the agency.

A senior official of Wasa told Dawn that after the first two quarters of the current fiscal year the agency managed to recover Rs37.48 million outstanding amount from the defaulters by blocking their sewerage lines.

As many as 200 sewerage connections had been blocked and defaulters were warned that if they did not clear their dues, the lines will remain blocked, he added.

“It gave a good result because defaulters came and submitted their dues as a result of which the agency opened their sewerage lines,” the official said.

The agency was facing a financial crisis due to outstanding amount from the defaulters. We wanted to give them a reminder to pay their utility bill which is not more than Rs140 per month, he added.

When contacted, Wasa spokesman Umer Farooq told Dawn that under this drive Wasa will also facilitate defaulters so they can clear dues from previous years through easy installments.

Special teams have been constituted to take action against chronic defaulters. The teams have been asked to negotiate with the defaulters to pay their dues voluntarily in which case the civic agency would waive the surcharge as an incentive, he added.

He said the civic agency did not want to create problems for people but the residents should pay their bills.

“There are more than 138,000 consumers in the city. Wasa launched a survey to upgrade the data as many private houses are functioning as commercial plazas and the agency will now charge them as commercial consumers,” he said.

Wasa Managing Director Mohammad Tanveer has directed the owners of car service stations to install water recycling plants following orders from the Supreme Court, he added.

He said the deadline was fixed at Dec 15, 2019. Teams have been constituted and an operation will be launched against owners of car service stations who have not installed the recycling plants, he added.

He also said the police had been contacted to register cases against those involved in water theft.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2020