The Hindu 31.07.2013
24x7 water supply in all Belgaum wards
The Belgaum City Corporation (BCC) has decided to extend the World Bank-assisted Karnataka Urban Water Sector Improvement Project (KUWASIP), to supply 24x7 pressurised drinking water supply, to the entire city.
The State government has approved the project and TATA Consulting Engineers has been appointed as programme consultant for preparing the project report, according to BCC Commissioner Priyanka Francis here on Tuesday.
She said the decision to extend the project, from the present demonstration zones covering 10 wards to the remaining 48 wards in the city, was taken after the success of the first phase. The financial model of the project was under preparation.
She said the project report was discussed in the stakeholders meeting held on January 29 in the presence of MLAs, the Deputy Commissioner of Belgaum, officials, public representatives, prominent residents and representatives of various organisations, during which it was “unanimously” resolved to extend the project to the entire city. The project has been implemented by the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWSDB) at a cost of Rs. 37.25 crore.
About 84,330 consumers with 9,758 house service connections benefitted from the project in demonstration zones in Belgaum North and South.
The beneficiaries included 1,387 consumers belonging to the urban poor, who were living in less than 600 sq ft built-up area. No initial deposit or connection charges were collected from them.
Areas
The areas which benefitted from the project are Gangwadi, Waddarwadi, Satya Sai Colony, Shahu Nagar, Vaibhav Nagar, Azam Nagar, Nehru Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar, Zatpat Colony, Angol, Bhagya Nagar and other areas.
So far, against the demand for water charges of Rs. 16.1165 crore, the KUWSDB collected Rs. 15.8227 crore, accounting for 96 per cent.
During the project implementation, there was no financial burden on the BCC or the KUWSDB as the project was completely funded by the World Bank and the State government.
