THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Water authority MD and IAS Bhandari Swagat Ranveer Chand quashed away claims of "burdensome work" from the meter readers union. MD Bhandari showed her mettle once again by reaching homes in the PTP Nagar subdivision to take the reading all by herself. Earlier the union workers (mostly belonging to the left and Congress faction) opposed the rule that asked the meter readers to cover at least 80 homes daily in the precincts of the corporation. However, dousing all such claims, MD Bhandari covered 80 homes in just three hours giving blues to the meter readers union. The MD after covering 80 homes dismissed claims of fatigue at work which were the common concern raised by union workers.

Panchayath-50, Municipality-50, and Corporation-80: these were the new rules adopted by the authority which irked the union. After the ground-level experience, the MD cemented her stance to continue with the same numbers and decided to not alter the rules in favor of the union.

In 2005, when there were just 9 lakh water connections in the state; for rural areas, the meter reader used to cover just 30 homes while in city premises, the numbers jumped to 40 homes. However in 2020, under M Ventikaspathi's leadership, the meter readers had to cover 80 homes in rural and 100 homes in city areas. At that time, the union opposed the move and cited the same ‘burdensome" and ‘’fatigue" as reasons. The current MD made a retrospection of the rules and decided to try the new numbers which was again hindered by the union workers.

Bhandari Swagat Ranveer Chand is a 2010 batch IAS and hails from Maharashtra. She was once the collector of Kasargod and her tenure then was so remarkable that minister K Rajan lauded her calling “ The gem of Kasargod”. She was known for her amicable connections with the people of the district and triggered many news headlines for all good reasons.

Meanwhile, P Biju of the water authority staff association said the rule won't be allowed to come into place.