BWSSB probe finds 383 apartment complexes, 43,000 houses have illegal UGD connections, notices issued

BENGALURU: The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has delivered a huge shock to 383 apartment complexes and 43,000 individual houses in the city by serving them notices for illegal underground drainage (UGD) connections. The civic utility has also imposed a penalty of Rs 200 crore on these apartment complexes.

The BWSSB was carrying out a review of water connections when it was revealed that hundreds of big apartment complexes and thousands of individual houses have got UGD connections illegally. It has now served notices to these apartments and houses and levied a penalty of Rs 200 crore.

Board chairman Ram Prasath Manohar said, “We had set up a team to look into these illegal UGD connections. The report has identified 383 big apartment complexes and notices have been issued to them. We are collecting penalties from them and regularising their connections”.

“Apart from the apartments, 43,000 individual houses with illegal connections were also identified. We are more focused on the apartments complexes as their waste water discharge is heavy and the BWSSB incurs more cost. The investigation was carried over the last two months and the connections are being cut since the last two weeks”, Manohar added.

The investigation revealed that these apartments and houses had got UGD connections illegally for many years. They have now been served notices to regularise their connections by paying up the penalties. It has also warned that failure to do so will result in disconnection of water supply.