The Hindu 29.03.2010
GMC to augment water supply by using SLB
P. Samuel Jonathan
GUNTUR: The Guntur Municipal Corporation is set to make revolutionary changes in the management, distribution and supply of water.
The GMC, which has already secured the necessary administrative approvals to implement innovative technologies like, Motorola's Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (Mini SCADA) system, will further augment the quality by constant evaluation using Service Level Benchmarks (SLB) which measure the quality of water supply.
“By using these indicators, we will scientifically evaluate the water supply chain and make real time corrections. The system will improve the efficiency and reliability of the existing water distribution. It will also help us to quantify the cost of the water and plug the leakages in the distribution system,” Municipal Commissioner K. Ilambarthi told The Hindu.
The GMC has already done a preliminary evaluation of the following indicators. It fared poorly in the coverage of water supply connections, efficiency in redressal of consumer complaints, cost recovery in water supply services and metering of connections with a rating of B.
The record in the per capita availability of water at consumer end, measuring the non revenue water, continuity of water supply and treatment of water, were satisfactory. For instance, the GMC could secure C grade in the reliability of quality water with over 4,100 samples being tested in a month. Out of 1, 31, 075 house holds in the service area, the GMC could ensure 69, 243 connections.
The GMC could ensure only 100 LPCD of water in the per capita availability of water as against the benchmark of 135 LPCD. While the GMC serves a population of 6,65,796 using 66.84 Million Litres per Day.
But the GMC would find itself walking on a tight rope over the issue of metering the water connections as an overwhelming public opinion against metering would tie up its hands. The status of GNC in metering is a dismal 2.4 per cent. As against 62, 039 direct connections, the GMC could meter only functional 1,574 connections.
