Wasa sends bills to colony without water supply

LAHORE
It can only happen in Lahore that citizens could be charged for the services, which are never provided to them and Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) has proved this by serving heavy bills to a majority of residents of an area of the provincial capital where there is no water supply line of the agency and the citizens are pumping out water through their personal turbines or motors.
Hanif Park, Main Bazaar Harbanspura, which is a low-lying area hosting some 500 to 600 houses near Harbanspura interchange on the canal and previous week was a shock for majority of the residents because they received heavy bills for water supply from WASA. Interestingly, printing date on the bills was May 09, 2015 whereas the reading date was also the same. The bills were served to the residents against metered water connections for the month of March and April 2015. Due date mentioned on the bill was May 18 (today) while the date of connection was August 28, 2013.
Mushtaq, a resident of the area said he was shocked to see the water bill because there was no water connection in this area. He said the bill served to him was Rs5,450. He said he was living in the area for the past many years and despite repeated requests of the residents, WASA didn’t provide a water supply line in this area and now they charged the residents with heavy bills. Mohammad Amjad, another resident said he got a water bill of Rs3,550. He said majority of the area residents were getting underground water directly. He said the government should take immediate action over this mistake and the WASA officials concerned should be punished. Muhammad Yousaf, another resident said majority of the residents got bills of Rs5,450 while the other residents got bills of Rs3,550.
He said these bills clearly showed vigilance of senior officials of the agency who are getting heavy salaries and perks from the government. He said sending bills to an area where there is no water supply line is very surprising. Yaqoob, another area resident said he also got a bill of Rs5,450 against no water connection.
He said he was getting water through tribune like most of the resident of the area. He said he had contacted the WASA complaint line but they refused to register his complaint. The News tried to contact WASA helpline of the area but the number was found unlisted. The scribe repeatedly tried to contact Managing Director WASA Ch Naseer but he didn’t attend the cell phone. Later, an SMS was sent on the cell number of MD WASA regarding the issue and he never bothered to reply.