Deccan Herald 11.07.2013
Get ready to pay more for water as BWSSB set to seek a raise
Get ready to pay more for water. The Bangalore
Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), which has not hiked the water
tariff since 2005, although power tariff was increased at least four
times in the last five years, will soon seek a raise.
The
burden of electricity charges falls on the BWSSB as it pays nearly Rs
38 crore for power. Its earnings from bill collection are just Rs 40
crore to Rs 45 crore.
After increasing the water tariff to a
flat Rs 19 per kilo litre for all bulk consumers, mainly apartment
dwellers, in June 2013, the BWSSB is likely to send a revised proposal
for water tariff hike to the government shortly, an official said on
condition of anonymity.
The BWSSB pays Rs 27 crore to pump water from
Thorekadanahalli (TK Halli), 100 km from Bangalore, in three stages.
Besides, it spends money on pumping water within the City to various
reservoirs, and the borewell charges.
The rest of the money is
spent on staff salaries, operations and maintenance. The official said
that the BWSSB had not paid borewell charges running into nearly Rs 100
crores since 2006. The Board has more than 12,000 borewells mainly in
the fringe areas, of which nearly 8,000 are functioning.
According
to the official, the burden of each power tariff hike falls on the
BWSSB as it will have to pay more without getting anything in return.
“Before the launch of the Cauvery IV Stage II Phase, Bangalore was
facing a severe water crisis. Back then, the board could not think of
increasing the water tariff, since there was already a crisis,” the
officer explained. “But we spent more each time power tariff was hiked.”
Besides the frequent power tariff hikes, the BWSSB faces
problems in mobilising new consumers for the additional 500 million
litres of water per day (mld) commissioned in October 2012. Although the
BWSSB has a capacity to pump 500 mld, it is pumping just 260 mld to
meet the City’s needs.
In 2010, the government sent back the
BWSSB’s proposal for a “reasonable” hike in water tariff. Three years
on, the government is yet to take a decision.
The BWSSB runs on a
‘no profit no loss’ basis and just about meets the ends, its chairman,
Gaurav Gupta, said. “The board doesn’t get any revenue subsidy. The
hike for bulk consumers was proposed around three years ago. We have
been seeking an increase in water tariff, but the government is
dillydallying,” Gupta told Deccan Herald.
