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Water Supply

Revised water tariff from April 1

Friday, 08 March 2013 10:53 administrator
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The Hindu                         08.03.2013

Revised water tariff from April 1

 
Municipal corporation to fix 10,000 water meters in the first phase.

The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) is all set to fix 10,000 water meters in the first phase. The exercise to fix the water meters for Household Service Connections (HSCs) will start shortly. As a step in that direction, the corporation will first revise the water tariff. The new tariff will come into force from April 1.

The corporation officials cite the gross mismatch between expenditure and recoveries on supply of safe drinking water the reason for increasing the tariff and fixing water meters. The corporation is presently spending about Rs.20.50 crore on safe drinking water supply to the public. However, it is recovering only 40 per cent of the expenditure.

The water charges for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families will be Rs.75 as against existing Rs.50 per month. The tariff for general category will be based on the property tax paid. The VMC has created three slabs – Rs.125, Rs.175 and Rs.250 – based on property taxes paid by the residents. A minimum charge of Rs.300 will be collected from each HSC. A water meter will be fixed for every HSC that pays more than Rs.1,500 towards the property tax.

The VMC has been providing the citizens connections at a subsidised rate of Rs.200. It is charging the Above Poverty Line (APL) households Rs.200 and the BPL households Rs.50. In 2003 the VMC increased the tariff from Rs.50 to Rs.100 per HSC. Later, it was brought down to Rs.80 in 2005.

In the CDP, VMC has stated that a total of Rs.1.30 crore will be spent on fixing water meters during the seven financial years between 2005 and 2012.

The VMC in 2007 had planned to purchase of 2.6 lakh water meters at an estimated cost of Rs.50 crore. However, it could not materialise due to stiff resistance from political parties.

The corporation gave a commitment in the CDP to spend Rs.18 lakh in the first year, followed by Rs.29 lakh in second year, Rs.39 lakh in third year, Rs.20 lakh in fourth year, Rs.13 lakh in the fifth year, Rs.6 lakh each in sixth and seventh years for fixing water meters to all domestic connections in addition to the expenditure for metering all connections of bulk consumption.

 

Water crisis looms over Hyderabad

Friday, 08 March 2013 10:48 administrator
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The Hindu                         08.03.2013

Water crisis looms over Hyderabad

J.S. Ifthekhar 

Osmansagar and Himayatsagar reservoirs to go dry by April end.

Hyderabadis, get ready for dry days and some unpleasant facts. The city is in for a severe water crisis, though officials wouldn’t admit. Both the Osmansagar and Himayatsagar reservoirs will go dry by April end and the city has to make do with reduced supplies from other sources. What it means is a shortfall of 40 to 50 mgd during the peak summer.

Levels in the principal city reservoirs are falling at an alarming rate. Himayatsagar can supply 13 mgd through gravity only up to March 10 and Osmansagar (17 mgd) up to March 31. Arrangements are in place to take up emergency pumping from Himayatsagar from March 11 and Osmansagar from April 1. Drawls are expected to further come down by 2 mgd from both these sources.

The situation in the Singur reservoir is no better. Through gravity the present quantum of 75 mgd can be drawn up to April and with pumping the supplies will last till August. That is, provided the water is not released for irrigation purpose. There is a demand for release of 2.5 tmcft to meet irrigation requirements.

The Irrigation Department is asked to maintain a level of + 510 ft in Krishna. A drop of two feet will necessitate emergency pumping for which arrangements are under process.

Meanwhile, the ground water level in Hyderabad and surrounding areas is giving cause for worry. From November to December, the water level dropped by half metre and from December to January it registered a fall of one metre. In February it went down by 1.5 metres. “The groundwater table will sink further in the coming months as the drawls increase,” says J. Satyanarayana, Assistant Director, Ground Water Department.

Equitable distribution

The Board’s main worry is how to meet the shortfall during May. “There is no alternative but to reduce the supplies and ensure equitable distribution of water,” officials say.

With the level in Himayatsagar reservoir going down fast, the Board has increased the diversion of Krishna water from 2 mgd to 6 mgd to areas served by this reservoir. Supplies to bulk consumers, mostly industries, are also cut down by 15 per cent.

Interestingly, the government is yet to release Rs. 55 crore sought by the Water Board to meet the summer challenge. However, pending the sanction of funds, the Board is going ahead with the contingency action plan.

The Board has already installed 4 pump sets at Osmansagar and 3 at Himayatsagar to start emergency pumping from the dead storage when the level comes down to 1,762 ft and 1,740 ft respectively. The Board is also taking steps to improve the raw water quality in the twin reservoirs by removing excess colour, odour and other adverse quality changes. The IIT Kharagpur has been asked to monitor the raw water quality and take up bio-remediation studies, it is said.

 

Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation plans to link water tanks

Thursday, 07 March 2013 08:03 administrator
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The Times of India                   07.03.2013 

Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation plans to link water tanks

PUNE: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation will have a system of directing water from one tank at the water treatment plant to another so that citizens do not face hardships due to water shortage in case of emergencies like failure of pumping system at the tanks.

Pravin Ladkat, executive engineer, water supply department, said, "The department lifts 425 million litres per day (MLD) of untreated water from the Ravet bund on the Pavana river and sends it to water treatment plants at sector number 23 in Nigdi. There are three sumps there having capacities of 8 MLD, 12 MLD and 10 MLD, where water is treated. The treated water is then sent to three water tanks having a capacity of 300 lakh litres each. The water from these tanks is distributed to the entire city."

Ladkat said whenever a mechanical problem crops up at one of the tanks, areas served by it experience disruption in water supplyIf the repair work is major and takes an entire day, water supply could be affected for two days.

He said there was a plan to inter-connect all the three water tanks at the treatment plant in Nigdi. "In case of a snag at one of the water pumps, water from one tank can be diverted to the other. The work on inter-connecting the three water tanks will begin from March 7," he added. Ladkat said, "There are some areas in the city which get water supply twice a day. The newly-merged villages get water supply for one hour daily. Some areas in old municipal limits, like Rahatni, Jagtap Dairy and others, get water once a day. We will be able to reduce this disparityin water supply once the water tanks are interconnected."
Last Updated on Thursday, 07 March 2013 08:05
 
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