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Ramkrishan Upadhyay
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 13
Something is wrong with the water meters installed by the Municipal Corporation. They not only charge for water, but also the air pressure in the pipeline.
Strange, but true! A retired 86-year-old Army officer of Sector 10 has received a water bill of Rs 4,214 for two months.
Brig SS Virdi (retd), who resides in house number 14, Sector 10, said MC employees had installed a new water meter at his residence on May 2, 2017.
He paid Rs 1,230 for the meter, which was duly checked by them. “I happened to check the meter and found that it was running even when the taps were dry. The morning supply is from 5 am to 8-30 am and the evening is from 5 pm to 9 pm. I waited for over an hour and when the water was released, the meter showed that 4 kilolitre of water had been supplied,” he said.
Virdi said he brought it to the notice of the authorities and requested them to get the meter checked.
He said he had even made a video of the same.
“I have received a water bill of Rs 4,218 for 60 days, which means 9.433 kilolitre i.e. 9433 lt per day has been used,” he said.
The elderly man said after getting the inflated bill, he again video-graphed the meter on August 12. When there was only air pressure, the reading was 4 kilolitre as the meter ran fast between 5.40 pm and 6.26 pm, the duration after which the supply is released. Virdi said he said only four persons were using the water. “We can’t be using more than 1 to 2 kilolitre water per day. The department should install valves to check the flow of air,” he said.
On this, NP Sharma Chief Engineer said he would look into the matter and a valve would be installed after checking the meter.
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