419 illegal tap connections seized in Surendranagar district

- Police complaint filed against 135 persons

- Notices issued to 151 people for recovery of Rs 9.56 crore as damages

Surendranagar: As many as 419 illegal connections have been seized in Surendranagar district of Saurashtra to prevent theft in bulk pipelines and distribution pipelines. A police complaint has been lodged against 135 persons. Notices have been sent to 151 isams for recovery of Rs 9.56 crore as damages.

Gujarat Water Infrastructure Limited (GWIL) and Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board are units owned by the Government of Gujarat, which provide regular, clean and potable water supply in rural and urban areas of Gujarat. Of these, Surendranagar district, which is considered to be the water of Saurashtra. Out of these, water supply is provided through various bulk pipelines and distribution pipelines. In Surendranagar district, 30 to 40 per cent of the water stock was being stolen from the bulk pipeline due to the contamination of water theft. To prevent this, a campaign has been launched by GWIL and GWSSB to prevent water theft in bulk pipelines and distribution pipelines.

Under the Integrated Phase-II Group Scheme of Surendranagar district, 229 villages and 2 cities of Muli, Sayla, Chotila and Thangadh talukas have been included. It has a current population of 5,39,451, and their current daily water requirement is 62.65 MLD. It's going to happen. Of these, the source of the villages included in this scheme is mainly Dholidhaja Dam. The daily requirement of these villages is 59.06 MLD in which not enough water could be delivered to the last villages due to water theft. The NC 30/31 (Dhanki to Malia) pipeline supplies 450 MLD of water daily to 1,386 villages and 20 towns in Kutch, Morbi, Surendranagar, Jamnagar, Devbhoomi Dwarka and Rajkot districts. And nc 32,33,34 (Dhanki to Hadala) a total of 145.96 km pipeline provides 450 MLD of drinking water daily to 1,219 villages and 21 towns in Surendranagar, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Devbhoomi Dwarka, and Rajkot districts through this pipeline.

In order  to prevent water theft and to prevent losses to the government, GWIL has been deployed. A campaign has been launched by GWS, SB to prevent water theft in all the three bulk pipelines and distribution pipelines in Surendranagar district. A total of 419 illegal connections have been removed, including 371 in Muli taluka, 3 in Chotila taluka, 19 in Dhrangadhra taluka, 1 in Lakhtar taluka, 5 in Wadhwan taluka, 14 in Saila taluka and 6 in Malia taluka. Therefore, due to the significant reduction in the cost of water and electricity as well as the reduction in the cost of distributing water supply from tankers due to the control of water theft, the financial burden of the government has been reduced. Out of the removed connections, 135 persons have been booked under the Public Property Damages Act (IPC). A police complaint has been registered under Section 430. And under the Gujarat Home Use Water Supply Protection Act, 2019, notices have been sent to 151 isams for recovery of Rs. 9,56,30,907 for the loss incurred by the government, out of which Rs. 12,59,740 has been recovered, and those who have not been paid by the ISMO have been paid the revenue department.