With a view to curbing the use of unaccounted-for water (UFW), the Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) has decided to extend Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Smart Card and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) tracking system to all the water tankers including Metro Customer Care (MCC), hire tankers and tankers plied by Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in peripheral areas.
Some operators are allegedly resorting to dubious means by diverting the water tankers, selling drinking water commercially and making money due to lack of proper GPRS tracking system which is resulting in losses to the water board.
Epos handheld terminals and RFID smart card system provides a mechanism to track the number of trips made by tankers, quantity of water drawn from filling stations ensuring water audit and reduction of UFW at filling stations. The water quantity drawn at each filling station is compared with the number of trips made from and to that filling station to ensure proper audit of water and revenue.
At a recent review meeting, the board has decided to extend smart card and GPRS tracking system to all the water tankers. including MCC, hire tankers and GHMC tankers.
According to board officials, there are 51 filling stations and 84 filling points in the city. The GHMC has 551 payment tankers and 132 free tankers plying in the city, and about 200 in peripheral areas. These tankers make 71,000 payment trips and 24,000 free trips a month. The water supplied though tankers is about 4.5 MGD and Rs 50 crore is the money earned a year.
If GPRS tracking system is installed on all the tankers, it will ensure accountability for tanker trips, payments received, water drawn and accounted for. EPOS handheld terminal at each filling station to update the tanker trips and meter reading to the server through GPRS network.
Also it would help achieve water audit with accountability of water and consumer satisfaction by effectively delivering the tankers to genuine consumers using Smart card, EPOS handheld terminals and integrating the tanker request, tanker payments with the MCC.