The Hindu        03.11.2014  

Water tariff increased across the board

Think before you water your garden or wash your car with a hosepipe. Water has become dear after Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) increased the tariff across the board effective from Sunday.

For the first time, all components of water tariff have been linked to consumption levels, with an aim to incentivise conservation of water.

While average domestic consumers will have to put up with a 20 per cent hike in tariff, those who exceed the average consumption levels will now feel the pinch as the tariff hike for this section is around 67 per cent.

The BWSSB, which has hiked water tariff after nine years, said in a press release that the move was necessary to bridge the revenue-expenditure gap and losses accumulated over the years. The decision to hike water tariff was taken at the October 20 board meeting.

Of the three components of the water bill — water charges, service charges and sanitary charges — service charges were Rs. 20 across the board for domestic connections. Now, even this has been linked to water consumption and can go up to Rs. 150. Sanitary charges, which were earlier 15 per cent of the water charges, have been hiked to 25 per cent. The minimum water bill for a domestic connection has gone up to Rs. 100 from the earlier Rs. 83.

Apartment complexes and group housings in the city that have bulk water supply connections have to now cough up Rs. 22 a kilolitre (kl) of water against Rs. 19 a kl earlier. The tariff for bulk water supply to industrial areas, including Kempegowda International Airport, has been hiked by about 30 per cent.

Non-domestic

A steep tariff increase has also been effected for non-domestic commercial connections. The minimum bill for a non-domestic connection has been hiked from Rs. 360 to Rs. 500.

The BWSSB has altered the consumption slabs based on which it bills consumption for non-domestic connections. It has brought down the slab for consumption for maximum tariff from 100 kl to 75 kl. Tariff has been increased around 30 to 40 per cent across all consumption slabs.

The Hindu        15.10.2014 

Water supply likely to be restored today

Due to lack of power, residents are back to the old hand pumps for water in the aftermath of cyclone Hudhud in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.— Photo: C. V. SUBRAHMANYAM

With supply by tankers inadequate and citizens having to struggle to get water for the second day running in the aftermath of Cyclone Hudhud, GVMC is getting its act together. Officials hope that by Wednesday morning normal supply to households will be restored.

“We are readying a total of 24 generators of 750 KVa and 500 KVa capacities at various pumping stations. There is every possibility of EPDCL restoring power supply at Narava filtering station and Thatipudi reservoir. With these arrangements in place we are confident that water supply can be restored by Wednesday morning,” Principal Secretary (Municipal Administration and Urban Development) and Special Officer of GVMC D. Sambasiva Rao told The Hindu . The generators will be installed at Gosthani, Krishnapuram and other areas to pump water. There is no dearth of funds and so far Rs.3.5 crore has been released.

With 182 trips of water tankers on Monday, the supply was hardly adequate to meet the demand. On Tuesday, the trips will be increased to 400. Priority is given to slums and hilly areas. However, with uprooted trees and electric poles it is difficult to reach the areas and power saws are limited in number. A total of 5,000 workers are pressed into service for various cyclone-related work. Besides, auto rickshaws are also carrying water from the municipal service reservoir. The Visakhapatnam Port Trust has offered four tankers of 6,000-litre capacity to enable GVMC store diesel.

With no municipal water supply people are queuing up at manual bore wells to get water where it’s a long wait to get water. However, the increase in groundwater levels has made getting water easy.

Mobile gen-sets

With no power and most of the residents dependent on borewell supply, in some areas mobile generators are brought to the doorstep of residents. An exorbitant Re.1 per litre is charged to pump water to the tanks.