Clear water transportation dues, State Human Rights Commission to civic body

Chittoor: Contractors, who have supplied drinking water through their hired tankers to city residents, had approached the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) to instruct the Chittoor Municipal Corporation (CMC) for clear their pending bills. The SHRC directed the Chittoor Municipal Commissioner to clear the pending water transportation bills immediately.

The municipal authorities have been providing water to city residents through hired tankers for the last two decades as there are no perennial rivers around the city and groundwater levels had come down drastically. Private contractors, Padmavathi and Priya Constructions, were supplying drinking water to city dwellers for the last two years but the CMC kept their bills pending for three months in 2014.

The Priya Constructions has claimed that the CMC had to clear Rs 1.22 crore from January to March in 2014 while Padmavathi stated that the civic body had to pay Rs 1.46 crore from April to June. The CMC failed to clear bills due to shortage of funds. Speaking to The Hans

India here on Tuesday, Municipal Commissioner Balasubramanyam admitted that SHRC has served notices to the District Collector and Municipal Commissioner for not remitting the water transportation charges to the contractors. He said that a decision was already taken to clear their dues and municipal council had passed a resolution in this regard. Keeping in view of the unbearable financial burden, transportation of drinking water has been stopped in the city and supplying the water through NTR Jalasayam, he added.