PUNE: The civic body is planning to file criminal offence against people illegally removing water meters installed as a part of its 24X7 supply scheme.The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) had installed around 5,000 meters in the Nagar Road areas, only to find that 350 of them were removed by the respective property owners.PMC officials said the property owners had removed the meters fearing that they would have to pay the water bills in accordance with the meter readings.“Most of such cases were seen in the Tingrenagar area,” an official said.V G Kulkarni, head of the PMC’s water department, said they have been creating awareness among the residents about the meters.“The civic body is currently using the meters for testing. The users will not be charged as per the bills for the time being. Even then some people have uninstalled the meters. Our staffers have warned them and reinstalled the meters,” he said.“If anybody is found taking out the meters again, we well file a criminal complaint against the property owner,” Kulkarni said.PMC officials said the meters were the municipal corporation’s property. “If the meters are removed by any individual or groups of citizens, the action may amount to damage to civic property. The offence will be filed accordingly. The meters in the areas around Nagar Road were installed in June and found removed in October,” an official said.The 24x7 water supply plan is aimed at providing equitable supply across the city. A total of 103 tanks will be built across Pune as a part of this project. The scheme also includes installing a 1,600km pipeline network and water meters.There will be two types of meters for commercial and residential establishments. A third type will be fitted to the water supply lines.The PMC has set a 2021 deadline for the project that will cost an estimated Rs2,900 crore.The project was marred with controversy as the tenders were in the past cancelled following allegations of misappropriation and over-estimation.The municipal corporation is planning to extend the proposed round-the-clock water supply project to include 11 villages merged in its limits in 2017.Nine villages were merged partially and two — Uruli and Phursungi — were completely brought under the PMC limits.