Chandigarh: On first day of water conservation drive, 7 violators challaned, 98 notices slapped

On Friday, following orders of municipal commissioner, Anindita Mitra, at least 18 teams of SDEs and JEs fanned out in the city and started checking the misuse of potable water from 5.30 am to 8.30 am.

The corporation later stated that in the first day of the drive itself, their teams found several violators misusing drinking water at their houses. A fine of Rs 5000 was imposed on everyone found violating norms.

As per the civic body, under the annual drive — that will be held from April 15 to June 30 watering of lawns, courtyards, washing of cars and other vehicles using hosepipes will invite a challan with a fine of Rs 5000.

Notices will also be issued by teams when they find leaking tanks amd taps, broken water meters and leaking water coolers. Those served notices will be asked to get the leakages repaired within two days, failing which they will be fined.

On friday, most of the violators were found washing their cars and courtyards. The teams clicked pictures and made videos of the violations as documentary evidence, before penalising the offenders.

Commissioner Mitra appealed to the citizens of Chandigarh to save drinking water and avoid wastage. She said that if needed people can opt for tertiary treated water for watering their lawns or washing their vehicles.

Officials said that if a person doesn’t pay the challan amount, the same will be added to the water bill of the resident. The teams doing the checks are headed by a sub-divisional officer, who has been empowered to hand over the challan to the violator on the spot.

A senior official said that if somebody posts pictures of violators who are washing their cars using hosepipes or watering their laws, their teams can use that evidence and go to the violator’s house and penalise them.

A fine will be imposed on residents if the teams find overflowing water tanks, water coolers or leakage in pipes as well. According to officials, there would be special focus on the northern sectors as the civic body had found that water consumption in these sectors is high as compared to the southern ones.