Collector orders removal of illegal taps

Ongole: Prakasam district Collector Sujatha Sharma ordered the officials to immediately remove the illegal tap connections and supply fair and equal share of water to every household.

She also ordered the RWS (Rural Water Supply) officials to collect the value of water from the salary of assistant engineer for being negligent in his duty.

The Collector toured the western areas of Prakasam district on Tuesday to inspect and address the water woes of the residents.

She visited the Ambedkar colony in Bestavaripet and interacted with residents and officials. On knowing that out of 1,200 tap connections in the panchayat only 800 are official, she ordered the immediate disconnection of illegal taps.

The locals also complained to the Collector that the owners of new constructions are using water from the taps and creating scarcity for drinking water.

Sujatha Sharma visited some construction sites and ordered the RWS superintending engineer Mardan Ali to collect an amount equal to the tap water used for the constructions from the salary of assistant engineer Jaggareddy. She warned the surpanch that the cheque power would be withdrawn if they continue to encourage illegal use of drinking water.

She also visited the Kandulapuram village in Cumbum mandal, recharge bores at Nakkalagandi and Cumbum urban colonies and interacted with the public to learn about the water problems.

The people said that the water was being supplied to them once in 3 or 4 days through tankers. The Collector asked the RWS officials to submit a report with the number of water tankers being sent to the panchayat, and schedule for each street for supplying water. She ordered them to supply the drinking water fairly and equally to all.

Sujatha Sharma later visited the Nekunambadu and Pitigayagulla villages in Bestavaripet mandal. The villagers complained the collector that the RWS officials were supplying water through the tankers though they have a bore and surface tank for the purpose.

She ordered the district panchayat officer to take action on the village secretary for providing misleading information and also ordered the RWS SE to collect the amount spent for supplying of water through tankers from the salary of the RWS AE.

She also visited SC Colony in Basavepally and Kambalapadu in Podili mandal and inspected the surface water tanks and their conditions.

Markapur RDO Chandrasekhar Rao, DWMA PD N Polappa, DPO Prasad, RWS SE Mardan Ali, Bestavaripet and Cumbum tahsildars Rajukumar and Usharani and other officials also accompanied the Collector.