The Indian Express 10.02.2014
BMC plans to supply water to illegal slums
To stop water theft in slums, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation
(BMC) has urged the state government to revise the policy of not
granting legal water connections to illegal slums. The BMC’s hydraulic
department, in a letter approved by Municipal Commissioner Sitaram
Kunte, has made a case for supplying water to all slums irrespective of
when they came up, citing revenue losses on account of water theft.
The BMC is planning to take up the matter with the urban development
department, officials said. At present, the civic administration
supplies water to slums that have come up before January 1, 1995, while
no water connection is granted to slums that came up after this date.
Of the 4,200 million litres of water that is supplied to the city
every day, nearly 700 million litres is unaccounted for, which means it
is either lost to leakages or is stolen. The BMC suffers losses worth an
average of Rs 400 crore annually due to water theft and illegal
connections.
Even if legal connections are not given to residents of slums that
came up after 1995, they have been receiving water either by borrowing
or stealing from the supply meant for legitimate consumers, said
Additional Municipal Commissioner Rajeev Jalota. Legalising all water
connections would help the BMC to know the exact water consumption, he
added. “A new policy will also help the BMC in better water management and equitable distribution,” said Jalota.
BMC officials said continuous water supply to slumdwellers would also
reduce punctures and leakages in water mains, which occur due to theft.
This would also reduce water contamination.
The BMC supplies over 700 million litres of water daily to a slum population of 65 lakh through 2.3 lakh metered connections.
Meanwhile, the BMC is also installing new flow meters for equitable
distribution of water. The mechanical flow meters also help in
determining correct water bills to slums, which were earlier based on
guess work and historical records.
While the production and supply cost is Rs 11.37 per 1,000 litres,
the BMC supplies water at a subsidised rate of Rs 3.5 per 1000 litres to
slumdwellers.
