Digital meters to cut water wastage

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) does not know the quantum of water usage in the city, because many water meters do not work. If it needs to find out, the BMC has to involve multiple agencies.

The corporation has now decided to cut water wastage and crack down on heavy users. It will instal digital meters and make a private agency responsible for their installation, maintenance and reading. The BMC hopes this will help it understand the water consumption pattern and charge more from consumers using up a large quantity of water.

Mumbai would be the first city in India to put this system in place, additional municipal commissioner Manu Kumar Srivastava said.

Previously, meters were installed and maintained either by the individual customer or the BMC. Currently, over 50 per cent of the meters are out of order because of which the BMC levies charges on an average basis.

The procedure to replace these faulty meters was cumbersome and one had to go through a maze of paperwork to get it done, Srivastava said.

The new system would be less taxing, he claimed.

Srivastava said the private operator selected for this project through tenders would be given a five-year contract. The new system would be in place between October and March 2007, he added.