BENGALURU: To drastically reduce the water loss figures up to 270 Million Litres Per Day (MLD) caused by commercial establishments, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) on Tuesday constituted two vigilance squads.
They have been set up following a high-level meet called by chairman Tushar Girinath on ‘Demand, Collection and Balance’ of the Water board earlier in the day at Cauvery Bhavan.
Speaking to Express, Engineer-in-Chief Kemparamaiah, said, “Anywhere between 15 percent and 20 per ent of Cauvery water supplied to the city that is utilised for commercial purposes is unaccounted for. To redress this lacunae, we are setting up the vigilance squads.”
Each squad will comprise of five members — an Administrative Officer, an engineer, an accounts officer and two support staff.” They would be based to cover two different stretches: core areas of BWSSB where the Unaccounted For Water (UFW) project is not operational, and peripheral areas where the incidence of unauthorised water connections is very high. The UFW project is presently being implemented in Bengaluru South, East and Central areas.
“The average monthly revenue of Rs 100 crore generated by BWSSB will definitely increase substantially if we are able to tap into the water that goes unaccounted for in these commercial establishments,” he added.
The squad will be a permanent set-up and is expected to report to the chairman on a daily basis if any discrepancy in water connection is observed. Under the scanner will be plumbers, water inspectors and Assistant Engineers.
The DCB meet also took into account the aspect that the water bills generated by L&T in Bengaluru West, where it is carrying out the UFW project, was 17 per cent more the bills generated by BWSSB.
The other section responsible for causing massive water losses are residents of 164 slum areas where BWSSB had laid pipes, provided service connections and installed water meters for free of cost with the assistance of Japan International Co-operation Agency (AICA). “BWSSB meter readers are threatened when they enter the slums to jot down the meter readings,” said another official.