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Water Supply

Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board stresses more on arresting leakages

Thursday, 07 March 2013 07:05 administrator
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The Times of India                   07.03.2013

Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board stresses more on arresting leakages

BANGALORE: S Suresh Kumar, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board minister directed the board officials to ensure that leakage is completely stopped to regularize water supply in city on Wednesday.

"The newly added areas in the city getting water from BWSSB have not been covered properly and there exists many illegal connections, resulting in huge leakage of precious water. Zonal officials must ensure that cmplaints from residents about water leakages must be attended immediately," he said.

He also asked officials to change the mindset of people who are trying to get water through illegal connections and bring them under the board's coverage. Although there was no internal deadlines set to arrest leakage, the Board chiefs say that by end of March, through their special drives to regularize connections, they would be able the achieve targets.

Minister stressed that to ensure smooth water supply to the entire city till June, water leakage should be arrested fully and officials must work with dedication.
Last Updated on Thursday, 07 March 2013 07:08
 

‘Sewage disposal most flawed part of urban planning in India’

Tuesday, 05 March 2013 05:55 administrator
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The Hindu                                    05.03.2013

‘Sewage disposal most flawed part of urban planning in India’

Staff Reporter 

Slums account for a quarter of the urban population, but get only one twentieth of the total water supply, said Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Monday, referring to the sharp inequity in water supply in the country.

Expressing concern over the quality of water and the declining water table, he said: “Even the lucky one’s who are connected to the regular water supply system, get water of dubious quality, in an erratic manner. The solution being pursued is to bore wells, which is in turn is leading to an alarming decline in the water table, engendering a possible national groundwater crisis.”

Speaking at the second Anil Agrawal Dialogue on ‘Excreta does Matter’ organised by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) here, Mr. Ansari said the country needs to work on the twin challenges of water conservation and waste water minimisation.

“Cities have used up or have polluted their water resources. India’s burgeoning cities have started sourcing water from far, outlying areas, to quench their thirst for water. Consequently, the cost of water has gone up due to the need for building expensive water supply infrastructure; leakages have increased to around 40%; and water-related conflicts between competing consumers are a distinct possibility. Besides the shortfall of water supply, stark inequity in access to water in our cities is also a reality,” he said.

Referring to the report ‘Excreta Matters’, a two-volume report provides details about the water and sewage situation in 71 cities across the country, Mr. Ansari said: “…waste and water are two sides of a coin. Indian cities produce nearly 40,000 million litres of sewage per day, enough to irrigate 9 million hectares. However, barely 20 per cent of this is treated, which is an enormous waste of a critical resource. Our cities have still not understood that wherever there is water, there will be waste. This waste needs to be collected, treated and then disposed. However, sewage and sewerage still remain one of the most neglected and flawed part of urban planning in India.”

The Vice-President said pollution load coupled with overexploitation has killed many rivers. Simultaneously, urban lakes and wetlands have steadily disappeared under ‘development’ or have become cesspools. These water bodies are crucial to the survival of our cities, as they maintain the groundwater balance, absorb and store water from rainfall and moderate the climate.

Urging people to conserve water, Mr. Ansari said minimising water usage also helps in cutting down generation of waste water. He said only with a judicious combination of water supply and waste water management can water crisis be addressed.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 March 2013 05:58
 

Nagpur Municipal Corporation largesse for Orange City Water Limited again; loss rises by Rs 45L per month

Monday, 04 March 2013 08:01 administrator
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The Times of India                   04.03.2013 

Nagpur Municipal Corporation largesse for Orange City Water Limited again; loss rises by Rs 45L per month

NAGPUR: In another largesse to private water operator Orange City Water Limited (OCWL), Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has promised to start paying the salaries of 149 of its staffers working with OCWL, thus increasing financial loss from water works by over Rs 45 lakh per month. Until February 1, the expenses of staffers were being paid by OCWL since they were working for it.

NMC sources say 502 employees were working in the water works department when the entire operation and maintenance of water works was handed over to OCWL on March 1, 2012. All these employees were transferred to Nagpur Environmental Services Limited (NESL), NMC's special purpose vehicle to monitor water works on that day. According to NMC's agreement with OCWL, the latter was bearing the cost of all employees.

As per the agreement, the employee mobilization period was set as four months, during which NMC employees worked for OCWL to assist its employees in operation and maintenance of water works. Within three months of this, the operator was to prepare a list and submit offers to the NMC if it wished to take any employees on its rolls. Then, a six-month period was fixed for employees and the operator to change the decisions they had made. After this, another two-month period was provided to effect the final changes.

Officiating executive engineer Azizur Rehman told TOI the operator has not given employment offers to any NMC employee till date. "NMC transferred 180 of the total 502 employees from water works to other departments in August 2012. The operator was paying for the remaining 322 employees till February 1, 2013. Then, the operator selected 99 employees and offered to keep paying their expenses, while not giving them offer of employment."

So, NMC has been bearing the expenses of remaining 223 employees from February 1. Now, there is a proposal to transfer 47 of these employees to the head office. "The remaining 149 employees will continue to work with NESL to ensure there are no water supply problems during the summer. NMC will bear the expenses of these employees," Rehman said.

NMC's decision has raised many eyebrows. The expenses of these 149 employees come to over Rs 45 lakh per month. Except a monitoring team, NMC should have transferred all employees to other departments, since it is already facing a staff crunch. As far as water works is concerned, it is the responsibility of the operator to ensure smooth functioning or bear expenses if it requires assistance from NMC employees.

NMC is already incurring loss of crores in the water works. Details in the budget reveal NMC is paying Rs 58 crore per year for electricity, Rs 15 crore per year for raw water and Rs 12 crore per year for water tankers. NMC is also bearing expense of Rs 6.61 crore for electrical works at Kanhan plant. Besides, NMC is also maintaining wells and erecting new borewells.
Last Updated on Monday, 04 March 2013 08:04
 
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