BMC will reach you for water account

The civic body to survey households to analyse the current water consumption pattern.

The civic body to survey households to analyze the current water consumption pattern.

In what is being touted as the first attempt by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to determine the actual demand for water in the city, the civic body will now come knocking on your doors to ascertain how much water is being consumed.

As part of the Rs 250-crore water distribution improvement system project (WIDP), the civic administration will survey households to analyse the current water consumption pattern and future demand.

People will be asked at least 15 questions, including number of family members, pattern of water storage, contact details, direct or indirect supply and details of consumption.

“This is the first time that a detailed survey will be undertaken to assess the existing demand for water and also gauge future consumption patterns,” said S R Argade, executive engineer (planning) from the hydraulic engineer department.

The project includes assessing demand for water, survey of existing pipelines and other assets of the hydraulic department, mapping of all pipelines on a GIS based map, identifying deficiencies in the water supply network, streamlining the existing water supply system by plugging leakages, call centre for customer relationship management, quality assurance through solving water contamination complaints and to ensure that water supply is compliant with national standards of quality check, said civic officials.

The civic administration will conduct a detailed survey of water needs in slums for the first time. The BMC will study 10 slums on a pilot basis to assess their water consumption patterns.

“We will pick out slums and study how much water does a slum household consume, paying capacity of slum dwellers, whether they receive water through the BMC or private tankers and quality of water,” said a senior civic official.

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The much ambitious WDIP was first envisaged in 2007, but got delayed due to various bureaucratic hurdles. The BMC has finally allotted the tender for the project to the Indian-arm of French consortium Suez Environment India Limited. Only two firms had expressed interest in the project. While Suez Environment India Limited fulfilled all tender conditions, Veolio Water, also a France-based company, could not qualify.

Civic officials, however, said that the project is likely to get further delayed as Suez Environment is yet to mobilise a team of international experts for the Mumbai project. “This might take three-four months,” said a senior civic official.

sharvari.patwa@expressindia.com

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