• I Paid A Bribe
• 13 years ago
• 1388 views

No bribe no water

• Water and Sewage
• New Connection
• Paid INR 5,000

MP is the second most bribe prone state after probably UP. My Sr Cit parents live on their own here. The house we live in there has 2 water connections which we have had since the last 15 yrs.
Issue 1
Lack of knowledge about which department does what. Getting this knowledge is very difficult and cumbersome, and time consuming to say the least. One has to spend at least 4-6 months before one can actually get the right person who will give the correct details of roles and responsibilities.

Issue 2: Rampant mafiaism at municipal level and absolute lack of responsibility on part of citizens to correct their ways;
While taking connection also way back in 1996-97 we had to bribe the municipal daroga and the water department contractor who did the digging and connections.
That time my dad managed it at his knowledge level.
This time, due to some water supply upgrade at the district level (I think) where new lines were laid down, the water supply dept. and sewage department colluded and ensured that in the old supply lines, drainage water was pumped in.
This way they forced the residents to go for the new connection and stuck a deal that for every single connection the connection team will charge Rs. 1200, for 2 connections it will be 2200/-
On top of that, for some residents, since the initial supply pipe from the main line into the residence would have got spoilt, the water supply contractor suggested that both sides of the road have to be dug, which will call for doubling the amount as above.

Now in our case, since our pipelines are 15 yrs old, we had no choice but to take a chance and replace the old ones with new.
Total laborers called - 4 (they get paid Rs 300 per day, so 1200 for their labor, going up to a max of Rs 1500/-)
Ditch size dug - 140x180 and 220x80
depth 5 ft each
Material for connections - Rs. 3000/-

Total cost of the work turned out to be Rs. 7500/- which ideally should have cost us nothing more than 1500/- + material

The other part of this bribing system is that the municipal daroga (supervisor) who goes on his morning rounds checking sewage and water supply charges additional amount from the water supply contractor, hence his amount is also factored in the charges asked for by the contractor.

At the end of the day, we don't have a written permission that we should take this new connection in lieu of the old one, and we don't have any proof or any news that the old pipe line is actually getting phased out once this new one is laid out.
Even for this, I was told by the contractor that residents have to give a written application that they have taken a new connection and the old one has to be phased out.

Given that there are ways to get this done legally, but the work is so time consuming and sapping that at least in my personal case, I had only 2 days to spend at home, and had to get this done.
a. My dad was unwell and advised bed rest, so he could not use his muscle to demand not paying the amount, and would have tried to get it through the right way
b. My office didn't allow me more than 2 days threatening to terminate my services if I went on any leave more than 2 days.

Hence I Paid a *******