| D.o.F: 12/12/06 D.o.O: 17/10/08 IN THE CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM KASARAGOD CC.NO.139/06 Dated this, the 17th day of October 2008 PRESENT: SRI.K.T.SIDHIQ : PRESIDENT SMT.P.RAMADEVI : MEMBER SMT.P.P.SYAMALADEVI: MEMBER N.Haridas, S/o C.R.Narayanan, Vellur Vayal, Vellikoth, : Complainant Ajanur Po, Kasaragod. Asst.Engineer, P.H.Section, Kerala Water Authority, : Opposite party Kanhangad. ORDER SRI.K.T.SIDHIQ : PRESIDENT The case of Sri.Haridas a retired School teacher is that the opposite party, Asst. Engineer, P.H. Section, Kerala Water Authority, Kanhangad has refused to accept his application for drinking water connection for the reason low terminal pressure. But according to him a resident nearby to his house namely Kannanunni has provided with water connection. The denial of water connection to him is a deficiency in service on the part of opposite party. Hence the complaint. 2. In response to the notice issued opposite party entered appearance and filed version. According to opposite party, the complainant Haridas applied for water supply connection from Ajanur rural water supply scheme in November 2006 and at that time the new connections from the said project were stopped. It was closed in August 2006 due to the inadequacy of the scheme to provide sufficient water. As per this project, the residents of Vellikoth Vellur vayal can be provided only a limited quantity of water. Further water supply connections in this area will affect the existing consumers. At present the flow of water in this area is one or two days in a week. This reason resulted in the rejection of the application form to Haridas. Application form for new connections were not entertained after August 2006 and the application of Kannanunni was received on 1/8/06. The water connection to Haridas will be provided when the present drinking water project is further improved and the availability of water is assured. 3. Sri.Haridas testified in tune with his complaint as PW1 and Ext.A1 marked. Opposite party Smt.Usha P.R, Asst.engineer, P.H.Section, Kerala Water Authority filed affidavit in support of their contention. 4. Sri.Haridas deposed that his application for drinking water supply connection was refused stating the reason of low terminal pressure. The house of Kannanunni to whom water connection is provided situated in a further height than that of his house. At present he is using the water from his well. But in summer season there will be no water in his well. That was the reason for his application for potable water connection but the same was refused by opposite party. 5. In the affidavit the opposite party stated that the application of Sri.Haridas received during the month of November 2006. At that time new connection for water supply has been stopped due to low terminal pressure. The water tank for rural water supply scheme of Ajanur Panchayath is not sufficient to supply water for existing consumers. Hence water used to supply once or twice in a week. If any additional connections are provided there will not be enough water to supply to the existing consumers. Hence the opposite party has constrained to stop new connection. There is a proposal under Tsunami for new scheme for supply water to the needy people of Ajanur,Pallikkare, Chemmanad and Uduma panchayath. If the proposed tsunami scheme is materialised the application of complainant will be considered. 6. If the aforementioned is the state of affairs then Sri.Haridas master should be thankful to Tsunami that hit the coasts of the country years back that finally came to rescue him from the dearth of drinking water. It is sad to note that even after 61 years of independence we have not been able to remove hunger or quench thirst. It is the obligation of a welfare state to provide supply of water to all the needy people. The opposite party is vested with the authority to fulfill the above obligations. The consumer should be provided water at least for 2 or 3 hours everyday with reasonable pressure. One can live without food for a few days but not without water. Right to life is a fundamental right. 7. The indefinite waiting for long for potable water connections will cause much hardships and mental agony to every consumers. The failure on the part of the Kerala Water Authority to accept the application for connection from the complainant and the denial of water supply is a deficiency in service under the Consumer Protection Act. 8. At the time of hearing, the opposite party submitted that the new tsunami project can be commissioned in March 2009 and thereafter water connection will be provided to Haridas . Considering the above submission we pass the following order, 1. The opposite party shall provide water connection to Sri.Haridas before 15th April 2009 after accepting his application. 2. The water supply should have reasonable pressure, 3. The supply of water shall not be less than two or three hours a day. If the opposite party is unable to provide water connection before the aforementioned date then opposite party shall pay Rs.500/- every month to Haridas Master for the expenses for making alternative arrangements for storing water for his domestic purposes. In the circumstances there is no order as to costs. MEMBER MEMBER PRESIDENT Ext.A1-8/11/2006- letter issued by OP eva/ |
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