The case of Santacruz-based Gujarati trader Bhavin Shah, 30, illustrates the slapdash attitude of civic officials.
Trust the civic body to delay implementation of key civic projects. What with it taking four months to decide on whether to provide a citizen with a water connection.
The case of Santacruz-based Gujarati trader Bhavin Shah, 30, illustrates the slapdash attitude of civic officials.
In February 2006, Shah bought a 2,500 sq ft plush 3-BHK bungalow for his five-member family. But only a few months after the Shah family moved into their new dream house, the Hydraulic Department with the BMC cut their water connection.
Shah claims the connection was severed on dubious grounds. Ever since then the family has been moving from pillar to post to restore the connection. “We have suffered unbearable pain.
I am a lawful owner of the bungalow. The house was bought after completing all legal formalities. At the time of the purchase, the bungalow was enjoying full water connection. The connection was cut due to reasons only best known to the corporation,” said Shah. “It has brought us immeasurable pain,” he added.
Deprived of a water connection, Shah’s family has been forced to stay at his uncle’s place in Santacruz. “Despite owning a house, I cannot live in it. Civic society’s custodians — the BMC has deprived us of a basic necessity,” Shah added.
The hapless family has made several applications to the BMC, even agreeing to sign an indemnity bond or a written undertaking for the connection. Hari Name, BMC’s Chief Hydraulic Engineer, argued that the connection was cut only because the said house had no Occupation Certificate (OC) and the consent letter of the society where the bungalow is located.
However, Shah alleges that the BMC officials were conniving with a local builder, who desired to strip them off their property. Name termed the allegations as baseless.
In one of the several meetings that Shah had with BMC officials, Additional Municipal Commissioner Manu Kumar Srivastava, after examining Shah’s representation, asked the Hydraulic Department to restore the water connection — he had ordered examining the feasibility of granting the Shah family an independent prepaid connection.
However, the file has gathered dust in the office of the Hydraulic Department. The matter caused a huge uproar at the floor of the Standing Committee with municipal councillors blaming the administration.
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