The Times of India 14.06.2010
Crores going down the drain, literally
LUCKNOW: Judicious use of available water is just the tip of an overall conservation strategy that needs to be adopted by the state government. For, it’s the pilferage of precious water that has attained alarming proportions in the state capital, not to talk of the situation in other parts of the state.
Guess, what could be the quantum of menace? One would be surprised to know that as against the total 480 million litre of water supplied per day in Lucknow, nearly 280 mld is either lost in leakage or is pilfered away, according to an estimate of UP Jal Nigam and Lucknow Jal Sansthan (now water works wing of Lucknow Municipal Corporation).
Managing director, UP Jal Nigam, A K Srivastava confirmed that pilferage/leakage in Lucknow is around 60 per cent of the total water supplied by the civic agencies. The figure climbs up to as high as 70 per cent during summers, when the demand spirals alarmingly.
Simply put, the menace translates into a huge revenue loss which surprisingly goes unnoticed.
Srivastava said that the production cost of per 1,000 litre of water ranges between Rs 5 and Rs 7. This way, the total cost incurred on 480 mld (48 crore litre) goes up to around Rs 240 crore per day.
A loss of 60 per cent would translate into a loss of Rs 0.144 crore per day, or Rs 10.44 lakh per day.
Officials at the water works wing of LMC too confided that the incidents of water pilferage have been on the rise. The maximum cases have been reported from the Old City area, where the number touched a staggering 2,500 in the last financial year. Sources said that the number could be far more as in some cases, the connection is regularised.
Secretary, water works, Raghuvendra Kumar said that it is not until metering is done that a check on water pilferage can be attained.
