Linemen to participate in water tax recovery drive

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The municipal corporation has not achieved the expected success in water tax recovery this year. From April 1 to March 2, only Rs 18.45 crore has been collected. In an effort to increase recovery, additional commissioner Kalpita Pimple on Monday issued orders directing officials to take linemen along during the collection process and to carry out recovery strictly.

The municipal corporation spends more than Rs 100 crore every year on water supply. In comparison, even 20 per cent of the water tax is not recovered. As a result, the civic body has to bear a minimum deficit of Rs 80 crore annually in water supply operations.

In November 2025, G Sreekanth had directed that employees accompanied by linemen should undertake water tax recovery. Accordingly, in January 2026, linemen were given training and assigned recovery duties. Within a week, linemen had begun visiting houses to verify receipts of water tax payments. However, this action was halted after the municipal elections were announced.

On February 23, mayor Sameer Rajurkar and deputy mayor Rajendra Janjal held a meeting of the water supply section, during which both office-bearers strongly expressed their displeasure over the slow pace of water tax recovery. Following this, the administration has once again decided to launch a recovery drive with the assistance of linemen.

Priority will be given to recovering dues from property owners with large outstanding amounts, and strict measures will be taken for collection. The water supply section has been instructed to provide a list of linemen to the assistant commissioners of all zone offices (Zones 1 to 10). Linemen have also been directed to coordinate with the recovery staff in the respective zone offices, according to the instructions issued by the additional commissioner.