RTI reveals sewerage charges worth Rs. 47 lakhs not recovered by LIT
19 Jun, 2013The reply to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has revealed that the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) has failed to recover over Rs. 47 lakh worth of sewerage charges pending with the residents of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (SBS Nagar).
The data provided in the reply shows that Rs. 47.32 lakh is pending with the residents of SBS Nagar. Out of this, Rs. 30.53 lakh are due from blocks C, D, E, F, G and H and Rs. 13.61 lakh have not been paid by the residents of six-storey HOUSEFED flats in E block. Rs. 3.18 lakh is pending as sewerage charges against Kabir Society in F-block.
The reply also shows that over 90 illegal connections are active in the locality and most of them have been active for past fifteen years. Maximum numbers of illegal connections viz. 56 are active in F-block while 20 connections in G-block are illegal.
The annual maintenance charges paid by LIT to the sewerage board are around Rs. 1.5 crore. The board has also warned the society that connections will be terminated if LIT fails to pay the annual charges. It has been claimed by some residents that despite the Damocles sword hanging over it, the apathetic attitude of LIT in recovering the charges might lead to cutting of their connections even though they have been depositing the bills.