BWSSB plans legal action, apart from fines, against those drawing Cauvery water illegaly

BENGALURU: With thousands of illegal Cauvery water connections being detected in the city, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is planning to take stringent measures against violators. Henceforth, those with unauthorised connections will have to face legal action along with paying a hefty fine.

Illegal Cauvery water connections are rampant in the city and the BWSSB now plans to crack down hard on them apart from  those who have not paid their pending bills.

Suresha B, Engineer-in-Chief, said that of late, the number of people stealing Cauvery water through illegal connections has increased in Bengaluru. Currently, 35 per cent of the water in the city is unaccounted for due to illegal connections. Amid water scarcity, this is a challenge raised before the water board, he said.

Previously, the BWSSB authorities would impose fines those with illegal connections and then regularise them. But many people do not care about legal action and have repeatedly resorted to illegal water connections, which has become a big headache for officials. The rampant illegal connections have prompted the BWSSB officials to take a tough stand against violators.

Further, Suresh said the water board chairman has already issued strict instructions to the officials at the zonal level to take stern action against the culprits. A special team has already been formed to conduct a survey to detect unauthorised water connections.

In all, there are more than 12 lakh Cauvery water connections in Bengaluru, but a significant number of them remain unauthorised. Currently, a special team of officials is conducting a survey to detect water theft.