BWSSB Identifies Leaks in Supply

An ongoing water audit by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has revealed that around 75 per cent of the water supplied to some newly-added areas in the city is going unaccounted for.

An ongoing water audit by the  Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has revealed that around 75 per cent of the water supplied to some newly-added areas in the city is going unaccounted for. This is cutting a `50-crore hole in the board’s monthly revenue.

According to official sources, there are no records on more than 75 per cent of the water supplied to Yelahanka and surrounding areas and 65 per cent of that supplied to K R Puram and Mahadevapura sub-divisions. After the audit in every sub-division, BWSSB will find ways to plug the leaks.

“We had brought the unaccounted for water supply down to less than 36 per cent before the Cauvery IV Stage II Phase drinking water project was commissioned. Now it has increased drastically,” an official told Express.

BWSSB Engineer-in-Chief T Venkatraju said in some areas, the percentage has touched 86. Under the Greater Bangalore Water Supply and Sanitation Project (GBWASP), the board had given water connections to around 1.5 lakh buildings in the city’s newly-added areas, hoping that the owners would regularise the connections and get meters installed. But more than 50 per cent haven’t done so and are drawing water for free, he said. The BWSSB plans to disconnect the supply to such buildings and is waiting for the green light from the government, he said.

At present, BWSSB generates a revenue of around `50 crore a month and has a monthly expenditure of around `80 crore. If it plugs all the leakages, its revenue will touch `100 crore a month. The board’s expenditure includes the installments it pays for loans taken from agencies like Japan International Cooperation Agency and  World Bank.

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The New Indian Express
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