Dharmendra Jore: Will revised tariff ensure pilferage-free water supply?

Judicious use of piped water has always been the last thing on our minds. We realise the importance of the essential commodity only when faced with breakdowns like pipe burst, or imposed cuts in view of the sinking level in the reservoirs. This is the story of people who get seamless tap water supply because they do not really get inflated water bills, unlike spiralling prices of petroleum products.

Things are expected to change soon. Time will tell its effectiveness, depending on how new measures taken by the state Water Resources Department and the State Water Regulatory Authority are implemented.

Use more, pay more
You will have to conserve or pay through the roof for excessive water use. The state Water Resources Department has moved a proposal to charge 16% to 20% more for water it supplies to cities.

The extra cost will ultimately be passed on to the end consumers. In addition to this, the regulator has decided to increase per person supply, but with a rider that the users will have to pay commercial charges if they exceed the revised quota.

The authority expects the measure will control misuse of water for domestic purposes, but also by industries that have been found to be accessing it illegally to meet increasing demand. The authorities were perplexed when statistics said that the industry uses only 3 % of water available for consumption, but found also that the actual intake was much more.

Extra quota, with a rider
In Mumbai, the BMC supplies 135 litres per person daily (one may counter this claim though). The authority proposes to increase this quota to 165 litres and ask for charging domestic rate for consumption up to 175 litres per person. However, exceeding the quota would mean paying commercial tariff.

But we are not sure whether BMC would go for another hike in water charges as it had enforced one from July this year.

One of the reasons to not go for the hike would be the fact that the BMC owns reservoirs that exclusively supply drinking water to the city.

In case of other cities, the dams that have been constructed by the state not only cater to domestic consumers, but they also have clients from industry and agriculture sectors.

In other municipal corporations, the quota has been increased to 150 litres from 135 litres.

At the gram panchayat level, families will get an additional 15 litres per person, but they will have to pay at commercial rates for excessive use. The quota of 70 to125 litres per person will remain unchanged in municipal councils and panchayats.

Strict rules for packaged water
The authority has found that there are villages that suffer from acute water shortage, but they also have bottled water plants in their vicinity. Where do these plants get water for packaging?

Since the authority says that no audit is conducted in these plants, it has come to a conclusion that they must be sourcing water illegally, pumping out underground water, and in several instances they must be stealing water in connivance with the officers in charge of the water resources department.

To begin with regulatory measures, the authorities will now make it mandatory for the packagers to mention the source they avail water from.

The packagers will also be told to mention water purification methods they use. It has been made mandatory because experts feel that not all companies that have mushroomed in the state adhere to standardised scientific methods.

In addition to bottled water plants, the beer plants that consume enormous quantity of water will have to pay Rs 200 to 400 per thousand litres. These rates are at least five times the charges other industries will pay under the revised tariff (Rs 30-80 per 1,000 litres). So expect your favourite beer to cost more.

Implementation still an issue
Will revision of tariff and extra quota ensure pilferage-free water supply? It is a well-known fact that the synergy between water mafia and civic workers accounts for misuse and illegal supply and results in loss of revenue.

The nexus is expected to get stronger further because of the hiked tariff. No authentic information is available on metered water supply.

Experts say information made available is largely based on assumptions. The tanker lobby is yet another major player which remains uncontrolled because of the huge money involved.

No need to say that policies continue to remain on paper if regulations don't get enforced effectively.

Dharmendra Jore is political editor, mid-day. He tweets @dharmendrajore. Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com