With the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) linking water connection with occupancy certificate (OC),nearly 130 applications have piled up at Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB ) offices across the city.Also,the Board has suspended sanctioning of new water connections.
In the wake of rampant illegal constructions,the GHMC has decided to implement provisions of GO 86 making it mandatory for builders to submit occupancy certificate for taking water and electricity connections.Henceforth,house owners who want new water connections have to produce occupancy certificate along with the application.
GHMC commissioner MT Krishna Babu has written a letter recently to the Water Board to either insist on occupancy certificate if any owner wants to get new connection or collect three times of the tariff as penalty.The rule would be applicable to Andhra Pradesh Central Power Distribution Company Limited (APCPDCL) too.
In the letter,the commissioner has stated that submission of occupancy certificate is mandatory to get water and electricity connections.Though the issue is not new,in the wake of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) conducting probe on illegal buildings,the commissioner has taken a decision to follow the rule strictly.However,structures which come up on below 200 square yards will be exempted from the rule, HMWS&SB executive director K Ashoka Reddy told STOI. In the letter,the commissioner said the Water Board has to collect three times penalty from the applicant in case the owner does not submit occupancy certificate.
However,the Water Board is yet to take a decision whether to insist on occupancy certificate at the time of submission or we wait till the connection is sanctioned. We are also examining various GOs issued by the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD ) department regarding penalties, the official said.
The new rule has started impacting the Water Boards revenues.Except owners of multi-storied buildings (MSBs),no applicant has come forward to pay penalty. The Water Board is already facing financial crisis and the new decision will add to our woes, the official said. Meanwhile,the Water Board has stopped sanctioning of new water connections till a final decision on penalties is taken. Now,we have stopped sanction of new water connections for the past few days, a senior HMWS&SBs Single Window Cell (SWC) official said.
Comment :
Keyword Tags Hyderabad News,Occupancy Certificate
Rate News on a Scale of 5. 5th Star Correspond to 5.
VIEW DETAILS. BOOKING IS OPEN
