This long-awaited move was expected to be adopted by residential societies in the first place. However, this does not seem to be the case due to ambiguity as to who will pay the bill. This ambiguity is greater in societies where RWA Have taken partial maintenance from private developer and people facing insolvency proceedings.
Housing societies will have to pay around Rs 3-4 lakh to GMDA as basic fee for getting the connection. Apart from this amount, expenditure on pipeline and related infrastructure from society to master line will also have to be spent.
Amit Shekhar, RWA vice-president, Vipul Lavanya Sector 81, said, “The RWA has no money and the developer is not ready to apply for the connection and bear the cost involved in laying the pipeline. Authorities need to make it mandatory for builders to obtain water connection As we have already paid the external and internal development charges (EDC and IDC) to the developer.
However, the developer’s representative said that he has already submitted an application for water connection with the GMDA.
The same is true of many other societies. In fact, some private developers have not even deposited the EDC with the government and GMDA officials say they will not provide water connections until the entire EDC is deposited. “We have sought clarity from the developer about whether he has applied for water connection or not knowing that he has not deposited the EDC with the government. Even if we want to apply for connection on behalf of the RWA, we cannot do so, as the EDC is pending,” said a resident of a society in Sector 83.
As per the rule book, it is the responsibility of the private developer to apply for a water connection, but in many cases, they are not willing to do so and want the RWAs to submit the bill. “It is the responsibility of the private developer to apply for the connection and make the payment,” a senior DTCP official told TOI.
In cases where the society is under insolvency proceedings, an interim resolution professional is entrusted with the task of obtaining a water connection. Praveen Malik, a resident of Sarai Homes, Sector 92, said, “Since our project is facing insolvency proceedings, we have asked our RWAs to facilitate water connection with GMDA through IRP.” In some societies, the process of obtaining water connections is likely to be further delayed due to the ongoing legal tussle between the RWA and the developer.
GMDA chief engineer Pradeep Kumar said, “If we get any concern from the RWA, we will take it up with the concerned authorities.” According to the GMDA, it will take about two weeks to provide water connection after submitting the application for approval. So far it has received only two applications.
.