SMC stops water supply to defaulter mills of Pandesara
Our Regional Bureau Surat The Surat Municipal Corporation on Wednesday disconnected water connections of mills in Pandesara that failed to clear their dues.
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"Water connections of thirty mills had already been disconnected by 4:00 pm," said Jatin Shah, hydraulic engineer, SMC. "We expect the entire work to be completed by late evening," he added. |
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Shah said: "We have constituted six teams, each comprising of ten to twelve persons, including supervisors, engineers & security personnel. There are 92 mills that have defaulted on water bills, so each team has been entrusted the responsibility of disconnecting water connections of 15 mills." |
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Surat Municipal Commissioner G R Aloria, said: "SMC lost Rs 47.60 crore due to water pilfering by the Pandesara units". |
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"The factories had paid 10 per cent of the amount, with an assurance that the remaining money would be paid shortly. We had issued final notices to the defaulters in July end, directing them to pay the outstanding water bill amounts at the earliest. The industrialists have not taken any steps to pay the money, so we have been forced to take stern action against them. Water connections of all the defaulter mills will be disconnected today and restored only when the entire outstanding bill amount is paid," he added. |
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It is worth mentioning here that the Pandesara factories allegedly pilfered water from the supply network of SMC. |
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The total pilfering of water was estimated to be worth about Rs 47.60 crore. The water scam, which was exposed at the end of the last year, had come as a jolt to the SMC. |
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Following the exposure of the scam, the industries that were found involved in water pilfering, were issued bills of Rs 47.60 crore. When the industries failed to pay up, they were sent legal notices. The industrialists paid 10 per cent of the bill amount to the corporation. |
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Talks were held between SMC and the industrialists with regards to the remaining amount, but there was no headway. |
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The final notices for payment of water bills, were issued to the industries last month, which have been followed by today's action. |
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