BENGALURU: The hike in power tariff effected from April 1 has increased the expenditure incurred by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB). With water being pumped from a distance of 100km to the city daily, power charges generally eat up one-third of BWSSB’s revenue.
From a monthly bill averaging around Rs 32 crore to be paid to Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL), the April electricity bill shot up to Rs 36.7 crore plus. Though BWSSB has no immediate plans to hike water tariff, the consumer will end up bearing the brunt of it in the long run.
The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission hiked the tariff by 8 per cent on April 10, which resulted in an average tariff rise of 48 paise per unit.
Speaking to Express, Engineer-in-Chief Kemparamaiah said, “We paid the April bill this month and it came to `36,67,29,847. This marks a big hike over what we regularly pay.”
This is despite power being offered on a concessional rate during night hours, said another official.
A dedicated 220KV line is in place from Somanahalli to ensure water reaches the city without interruption in case of power disruption, Kemparamaiah said.
Altogether 40,245 million litres was pumped in April with 1688.1 units consumed in pumping a million litres. This includes pumping carried out in Cauvery Water Supply Scheme Stage I, II, III and IV stages.
The massive pumping exercise undertaken round-the-clock in April were done at three pumping stations: Thoraikadanahalli: 2,65,01,153 units; Harohalli: 2,24,50,000 units and Tataguni: 2,19,99,600 units.
Asked about the possibility of any revision in water tariff, he said, “We last revised our tariff in November 2014. There will not be any revision in the near future. However, a couple of years down the line, the charges will have to be passed on to our consumers.”