Bengaluru, Feb 18 (IANS): The Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has warned that it will impose a fine of Rs 5,000 for utilising drinking water for other purposes in Bengaluru for various purposes by the public.

The President of the BWSSB has signed the order in this regard and urged the public to contact call centre number 1916 if they notice any violation of drinking water.

The order states, that Bengaluru has a population of 1.40 crore people including the floating population and it is necessary to provide drinking water facilities for all. Every day, the temperature is increasing in the city and the groundwater levels have gone down due to a shortage of rain.

It has been decided to limit the usage of drinking water by the public and passed an order for the public prohibiting the usage of drinking water for cleaning vehicles, gardening, construction of buildings, fountains and other recreational purposes, for purposes other than drinking at malls and cinema theatres and for road construction and cleaning.

If the order is violated, under section 109 of the BWSSB Act 1964 Rs 5,000 fine would be imposed. In case of repeated violations, every day along with the fine of Rs 5,000, Rs 500 more would be imposed.

The BWSSB order is likely to trigger a debate. The BWSSB issued a similar order on March 8 of the previous year. The prohibitory orders have been issued under columns 33 and 34 of the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Act -1964. It is advised to the people not to waste the water and use it with discretion.

Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had directed the officials to submit a report on the proposed hike of drinking water in Bengaluru city. The BWSSB is most likely to implement a long-pending water tariff hike sooner.