MADURAI: The Madurai city corporation has finally kickstarted the process of installing water meters across the city, and has already put up 15,000 meters. The plan of action is to install a total of 2.5 lakh water meters in two phases.
"About 15,000 water meters have been installed so far in the city, including the majority of areas in zone one. Works are now on in other areas, including Avaniyapuram. The revised charges for the new meters will be fixed by the council in the coming weeks," said an official.
The long-pending water meter project will enable the city corporation to monitor water usage, and aid residents in paying for what they consume as against the existing norm of fixed water charges. Several residents have expressed reservations over the possibility of higher tariff based on the consumption of water.
"Water meters are finally being installed in Madurai after several failed attempts. But, instead of conventional meters, the corporation could have installed modern digital meters, which would directly relay the reading to the control centre. With the conventional meters, people will have to wait for the official concerned to visit and calculate the readings," said Murugesan, a resident from Madurai.
A senior corporation official from Madurai stated that there are nearly 2.5 lakh water connections across 100 wards in the city. The city corporation plans on installing water meters in two phases, with about 90,000 meters to be erected in the first phase within July, while the remaining 1.6 lakh meters are expected to be installed in the second phase, by February or March 2025.
The installation process is being executed in three stages. Firstly, the primary line (outside property) is laid, from where the individual connections branch out. The second stage comprises the flushing process, which is carried out to check for any leaks, while the last stage sees the installation of water meters inside property-bound lines. "Installation of meters in the earlier stages could lead to issues of damaged or missing meters, because of which meters are installed at the end," said an official.
Meanwhile, Murugesan added, "Water should be provided daily before such meters are installed. Currently, we get water only once in four days."
There are 100 wards under the city corporation, with a total population of 20.4 lakh. The corporation provides 74 litres of drinking water per person per day (LPCD). Thus, an average of 150 MLD of water is provided to these wards daily, through various sources, including the Periyar drinking water scheme.