Rawalpindi: The Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) has notified its decision to regularise all illegal water connections in the cantonment areas under a new amnesty scheme, according to a news report published on September 26.
Under the said provision, the users concerned will be able to regularise their connections after paying a sum of PKR 6,000 (including PKR 3,000 in terms of connection fee and PKR 3,000 as fine fine) from October 1 to November 1. Previously, under a similar scheme announced in 2014, as many 9,000 connections were regularized.
To this effect, RCB spokesperson Qaiser Mehmood said that the civic body intended to facilitate people and bring all illegal connections under the tax net. He revealed that as per the RCB records, 54,000 domestic and 3,390 commercial water connections were legal and that an estimated 15,000 water connections in the cantonment areas were found to be illegal.
Mehmood also revealed that 70% commercial and 35% domestic consumers were identified for not paying their water bills during a survey conducted in the fiscal year 2019-20. He opined that the non-payment of water charges hindered the launch of new projects and that the agency was reluctant to disconnect illegal water connections.
It was informed that after the end of the amnesty scheme, the RCB will launch an aggressive campaign and remove illegal water connections without further notice.
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