Dharmendra Jore: Will revised tariff ensure pilferage-free water supply?

Judicious use of piped water has always been the last thing on our minds We realise the importance of the essential commodity only when faced with breakdowns like pipe burst or imposed cuts in view of the sinking level in the reservoirs This is the story of people who get seamless tap water supply because they do not really get inflated water bills unlike spiralling prices of petroleum productsThings are expected to change soon Time will tell its effectiveness depending on how new measures taken by the state Water Resources Department and the State Water Regulatory Authority are implementedUse more pay moreYou will have to conserve or pay through the roof for excessive water use The state Water Resources Department has moved a proposal to charge 16 to 20 more for water it supplies to citiesThe extra cost will ultimately be passed on to the end consumers In addition to this the regulator has decided to increase per person supply but with a rider that the users will have to pay commercial charges if they exceed the revised quotaThe authority expects the measure will control misuse of water for domestic purposes but also by industries that have been found to be accessing it illegally to meet increasing demand The authorities were perplexed when statistics said that the industry uses only 3 of water available for consumption but found also that the actual intake was much moreExtra quota with a riderIn Mumbai the BMC supplies 135 litres per person daily one may counter this claim though The authority proposes to increase this quota to 165 litres and ask for charging domestic rate for consumption up to 175 litres per person However exceeding the quota would mean paying commercial tariffBut we are not sure whether BMC would go for another hike in water charges as it had enforced one from July this yearOne of the reasons to not go for the hike would be the fact that the BMC owns reservoirs that exclusively supply drinking water to the cityIn case of other cities the dams that have been constructed by the state not only cater to domestic consumers but they also have clients from industry and agriculture sectorsIn other municipal corporations the quota has been increased to 150 litres from 135 litresAt the gram panchayat level families will get an additional 15 litres per person but they will have to pay at commercial rates for excessive use The quota of 70 to125 litres per person will remain unchanged in municipal councils and panchayatsStrict rules for packaged waterThe authority has found that there are villages that suffer from acute water shortage but they also have bottled water plants in their vicinity Where do these plants get water for packagingSince the authority says that no audit is conducted in these plants it has come to a conclusion that they must be sourcing water illegally pumping out underground water and in several instances they must be stealing water in connivance with the officers in charge of the water resources departmentTo begin with regulatory measures the authorities will now make it mandatory for the packagers to mention the source they avail water fromThe packagers will also be told to mention water purification methods they use It has been made mandatory because experts feel that not all companies that have mushroomed in the state adhere to standardised scientific methodsIn addition to bottled water plants the beer plants that consume enormous quantity of water will have to pay Rs 200 to 400 per thousand litres These rates are at least five times the charges other industries will pay under the revised tariff Rs 3080 per 1000 litres So expect your favourite beer to cost moreImplementation still an issueWill revision of tariff and extra quota ensure pilferagefree water supply It is a wellknown fact that the synergy between water mafia and civic workers accounts for misuse and illegal supply and results in loss of revenueThe nexus is expected to get stronger further because of the hiked tariff No authentic information is available on metered water supplyExperts say information made available is largely based on assumptions The tanker lobby is yet another major player which remains uncontrolled because of the huge money involvedNo need to say that policies continue to remain on paper if regulations dont get enforced effectivelyDharmendra Jore is political editor midday He tweets dharmendrajore Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycom