The Times of India              02.09.2013

Water meter scheme put on hold

AHMEDABAD: The ambitious decision of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) to give 'building-use' certificates to only those who have water meters installed in the new premises has been put on hold. The civic body was wide-eyed when firms who were asked to provide tenders for water meter installations presented a budget of Rs 19,000 per connection.

Standing committee chairman Bhupendra Patel said, "We had first announced the new water meter scheme from April 1 onwards. The deadline was extended to June and finally after receiving the offers we have abandoned the idea for now," said Patel. When asked whether the water metering idea has been abandoned completely, Patel said, "No not at all. In fact we are looking for cost effective systems and models of implementation."

A preliminary cost analysis of the metered water supply was done in December last year and estimated to be Rs 12,500 per connection. But escalation of costs and as the work also involved tinkering with the existing distribution system, the cost was estimated to be Rs 17,500 per connection. The AMC is yet to take a call on the agency that would supply 'magnetic water meters' to consumers.

A rough estimate calculated by a Union Ministry of Urban Development concept paper on 24X7 water supply claimed that a household of five people consuming water at the rate of 100 litres per capita a day would use approximately 1.8 lakh litres of water every year. Then the annual range of cost of a 24X7 supply service would range between Rs 1,440 and 2,700. This compares well with the current cost of coping that averages Rs 2,500 for poorer households and Rs 5,500 for middle-class households. The Union ministry claimed that the cost has not been tested in practice. However, a rate of Rs 10 to15 per 1,000 litres was worked out in these circumstances.