The Hindu                       10.04.2013

Now, apply online for water connection

The Kerala Water Authority, in a bid to keep middlemen and plumbers at bay, is planning to accept new water connection applications online.

The proposal, to be placed before the KWA board shortly, is likely to include measures for consumers making necessary payments either online or at local KWA offices. The local offices will be equipped to provide application forms. As of now, according to a top KWA official, a prospective customer would have to pay at least Rs.10,000 for a domestic connection when the actual fee would not be more than Rs.3,000.

The ‘rates’ are now fixed as per the whims and fancies of plumbers and a few lower- rung KWA officials. And the rates include their ‘personal fee’ as well.

The KWA top brass has found out that there are around 400 new connections every year in the State capital alone, and these are not ‘traceable’ after the connection process. “Water is going to those connections, but there are no payments,” an official said, adding the new system would look at curbing such illegal connections and identifying those fleecing the consumer. At the same time, efforts would be made to increase the number of connections.

According to Ashok Kumar Singh, Managing Director, KWA, around Rs.400 crore is being pumped into rural water schemes every year, but the number of new connections being given is proportionally far less. As of now, less than 14 per cent of the 41-lakh-strong rural population in the State have access to piped drinking water.

The aim was to give 2.85 lakh rural connections and 1.5 lakh urban connections a year to take the access to 50 per cent from the present 14 per cent in the next five years.

The move, along with efforts to streamline the water charge collection system, is expected to help in generation of revenue as well for the utility.