In Rawalpindi, WASA blocks gutter lines of bill defaulters

With spewing toilets, people term it ‘dirty tactic’ to recover overdue payments

RAWALPINDI: Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) has started choking gutter lines of bill defaulters thus forcing them to cough up long-overdue payments.

At least 100 sewerage connections of perennial bill defaulters were cut said Wasa Managing Director Muhammad Tanveer replying to a query by The Express Tribune.

Though it seems a desperate measure on the part of the agency, it also caused serious problems for defaulters who called it dirty tactics.  With sewerage connections cut, Wasa bill defaulters had toilets spewing in homes and they were left with no option but to rush and pay the utility service, sources said.

However, the agency’s managing director said it was necessary to make recoveries. Earlier, Wasa used to cut water connections, but cutting sewerage connection proved a more potent tool to make people pay their dues. Even people who had never bothered to pay water and sanitation bills have opened their wallets, Tanveer shared.

He said the option of easy instalments was available for consumers who could make payments from the online platform too.

He said Wasa will observe zero-tolerance against bill defaulters and try to achieve 100% recovery till the end of the financial year. The recovery drive will continue till June 30, he said adding that Wasa will collect one-year advance bill for new water connections.

Wasa has decided to take an early start to clean the Nullah Leh to prevent floods during summers.

There is the apprehension of more heavy rains in monsoon. Therefore, Wasa has planned to deploy machinery to clean the water channel that traverses through the garrison city.

There have been instances when garbage-choked Nullah Leh has broken its banks and inundated low-lying areas of Rawalpindi.

Wasa will procure Rs20 million worth of machinery to start cleaning the nullah under the Monsoon Flood Control and Relief Plan. All the 10 drains flowing into the city, including Nalluh Leh will be thoroughly cleaned twice in April and June.

Wassa Managing Director Mohammad Tanveer said the authority will send a summary to the Punjab government for the relase of funds for cleaning the seasonal nullahs.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2020.