The Times of India               30.04.2013

Water meter proposal gets dry response from residents

These cities include Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Varanasi, Allahabad, Meerut and Mathura. The government has mandated that beyond a certain limit, a person is liable to pay extra for per kilolitre of water usage. This means that consumers' water consumption would now be metered and they cannot afford to misuse it. The initiative has been taken to regulate water connections and bring all unregistered houses under the water-tax net.

Jal Sansthan officials claim that a person should ideally use 50-60 litres of water every day which includes household chores. This can be extended up to maximum 150 litres water but people end up wasting around 400 litres of water per head every day due to various reasons like car-wash, room cleaning, leakage in pipes, open taps, etc. "Meters are required to put a tab on such activities and would bring all illegal connections under the scanner which were not paying water tax to the government."

The decision, however, has not gone down well with the residents who feel that they are being imposed an extra burden despite poor services. Aliganj resident Dr RK Verma says, "Being a doctor, I can make out that water supply in our area is heavily contaminated. The dissolved bacteria and germs lead to diseases like typhoid, jaundice, hormonal problems in teenagers etc. We have to depend on water purifiers and personal boring wells to get clean water. Instead of just increasing revenues by installing water meters, the government should focus on providing clean water to the public."

Few expressed concern that they are not supposed to pay for dirty flow of water since it is not being used. Amita Singh, a housewife from Vikasnagar, questions, "Initial half an hour supply in our area always contains sand and gravel particles which is not used and thrown away. We have to wait for half an hour everyday to get clean water supply. Then why should we pay for the dirty water? It is being forced on us."

The officials defend the decision saying that the specialised water meters come with a 'gate-valve' which can be installed near the device. "In case of dirty water flow, consumers can turn off the valve and wait for clean water supply. The device can be controlled manually," said a Jal Sansthan official.

Apart from the contamination, erratic supply hours and shortage of water have also been distressing the poor residents in few colonies. Ravi Bisht, a resident of C-block, Indiranagar, says, "We have not been getting even a single drop of water during morning shifts for last 15 days, we only get water during evenings, that too only for half an hour. The water is usually full of sand and stinks. Are we supposed to pay for this water?"

Water meter installation is a mandatory reform of JNNURM. Earlier also, Lucknow Municipal Corporation tried to install meters in 2009, but failed due to opposition from people who contended that mission should ensure 24-hour water supply before metering the usage. A sum of Rs 22 crore has been earmarked under JNNURM for this purpose in Lucknow and there are around three lakh houses which need to be metered here.

Officials claim that the funds would sustain installation of only around 80,000 water meters in the first phase, which would preferably be done in Gomtinagar and Indiranagar. They said that the first phase would take around one year and after that, they would begin installing in other trans-Gomti colonies like Vikasnagar, Mahanagar and Aliganj etc.

Jal Nigam is currently evaluating tenders of various agencies who would install water meters in houses. The process should begin in the next 1-2 months.

Info:

Water meter installation mandatory reform of JNNURM

Currently, water tax is calculated as 12.5% of the annual value of a property

Rs 22 crore allocated for water meters installation in Lucknow

Rates have not been decided, would be sorted out in the next few months

3,00,000 houses in Lucknow; funds sufficient only for 80,000 meters

First phase will cover Gomtinagar and Indiranagar

A person can at maximum use 150 litres of water per day but most end up wasting around 400 litres

In Lucknow, around 450-460 MLD of water is being consumed

Process should begin in another 1-2 months with Gomtinagar and Indiranagar

Piloting electromagnetic meters in Gomtinagar

Jal Sansthan is planning to pilot a new kind of electromagnetic water meters in Gomtinagar. These meters are expensive, worth about Rs 10,000 per device, whose advantage is that Jal Sansthan staff does not need to visit every house for meter reading; instead they can read meters of all houses falling within 200-300 radius of that location. A normal water meter device costs around Rs 2,500. Officials said that since these devices are expensive, they would first see the feedback of the pilot study. If it is found effective, then they would seek more funds from JNNURM and install these devices in place of ordinary meters.

Jal Sansthan expects revenues to double after installation of water meters

Jal Sansthan said that once water meters are installed in all houses, their revenues would double. A senior officer said, "Presently, we earn only Rs 60 crore as water tax every year. This is not able to meet even our electricity bills which are close to Rs 40 crore every year. Once we double our revenues, we would become self-sufficient to bear our expenses." The agency says that more than 30,000 houses use illegal water connections which would be brought under tax-net through water meters.

Quotes

"My major apprehension is that whether these water meters would be able to calculate correct volume of water or not, we are already paying so much for purifiers and electricity bills of personal boring pumps." | Dr RK Verma, Aliganj

"We receive water only for half an hour twice a day. The force of water is so slow that we are unable to fill our water tank in that period. Instead of improving its services, the government is imposing a new burden on us." | Nirmala Mishra, Hind Nagar, Kanpur Road.

"The current government has been either imposing a new tax or increasing the existing tax for last one year. We are unable to strike a balance between income and expenditure." | Chandra Bisht, Indiranagar.