09 September,2009 08:07 AM IST | | Peter Colaco
Maintenance meetings in our apartment building were generally uneventful. Mrs X and Ms Y, who couldn't stand each other, would get into pointless arguments, but nobody else paid attention. Bored people just stopped attending. But when the subject related to money (monthly maintenance) came up, they made it a point to attend.
Our secretary had a way of goading attendance by lacing innocuous notices with barbed threats! e.g. 'A flat-owners meeting will be held to consider a raise in the salary of the watchman. If you do not attend, it will be taken that you will accept whatever decision may be taken by those present.'
(The watchman was known as the 'washman' as washing cars was his main pre-occupation, when he came on night duty and before leaving in the morning. He supplemented his income with people's small errands and compensated his fatigue by sleeping soundly while on night watch!). The residents did not protest about the raise, though the 'washman' contributed little to our building's security. He had other uses for the older folk.
But tempers got frayed when the water bills began to rise. Electricity consumption was separately metered for each flat, so caused no argument. But one single water meter measured all usage in the building swabbing the common areas, watering the garden and direct consumption by individual flats. Stern warnings were posted on the notice-board. 'Kindly have all leaks in your bathrooms attended tou2026' 'Make sure that all taps are firmly closed at night...' 'Or else it will be inevitable that the maintenance contribution will have to be raised.'
The water bills remained high. Was there a solution? A good plumber was retained. Despite protests he went over the building, bathroom by bathroom, kitchen by kitchen and checked all the pipes between. The water bill came down a little but was still high...
Accusations and counter accusations were traded. A quiet man, who rarely intervened, made a suggestion.
'Let's check the BWSSB inlet pipe and the sump for leaks.'u00a0 Some people sniggered dismissively. But the quiet man quietly insisted.u00a0 And the thief was discovered.
A spreading tree on the pavement outside was caught with its sticky fingers (or, more precisely, thirsty roots) coming through the walls of the sump.
The roots were cut, the sump-wall was reinforced with more concrete. And the bills came down to everyone's satisfaction,exceptu00a0 perhaps, for the 'water thieving' tree who might have felt 'Free Shade merits Free Water, not amputated roots!'
