Bhagiratha to boost water distribution infra

People in 68 Urban Local Bodies and 8,600 Panchayat Raj Institution will be benefited once the State government flagship scheme is completed

​Hyderabad: Water distribution infrastructure in 68 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and 8,600 Panchyat Raj Institutions (PRIs) in the State is all set to get a fillip with the State government’s flagship programme Mission Bhagiratha.

According to sources in the Commissioner and Director of Municipal Administration (CDMA), “inadequate distribution network, non-installation of flow meters to quantify the water supplied, replication and underutilisation and non-utilisation of funds,” are at present plaguing the water distribution. These problems will be plugged now.

As per the records the Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Department claims supplying of safe drinking water to over 5,672 rural habitations at the rate of 55 LPCD till 2014. And, about, 843 more habitations were covered with the supply of 100 LPCD under the MB.

Like ULBs, the Rural Water Supply (RWS) Department had to take ad hoc measures to resolve the problems faced in the maintaining and supplying drinking water in the rural areas.

“Not following the National Water Policy – 2012 guidelines in United Andhra Pradesh resulted in lack of uniformity in the operations and pricing in about 53 ULBs. The same has been continuing since the formation of the new state,” the sources pointed out.

For example, the distribution network was found inadequate ranging from 23 to 67 per cent in Kodad in Suryapet district, Gadwal in Jogulamba Gadwal district, Manuguru in Bhadradri Kothagudem, and Mandamarri in Mancherial district.

Further, drinking water supply infrastructure developed at an estimated cost of about Rs 23 crore in Vikarabad remained untilised as the water is being supplied using the infrastructure created under another scheme sanctioned in 2011. Similarly, completion of water distribution lines started in 2012 in Gadwal remained incomplete.

All this has been adversely affecting the drinking water supply both in the ULBs and PRIs. For example, there are no household connections in Manugur and people have to fetch water from public stand posts. The demand and supply gap in water supply in Gadwal, Kodada, Mandamarri, Metpally, Vikarabad and the like ranges from 19 to 71 per cent.

The shortfall in the house service connections in Metpally, Vikarabad, Bodhan and several others have been estimated ranging from 48 to 70 per cent.

The infrastructure problems further impacting the duration of water supply which is found ranging from one hour once in four days to one hour per day against the targeted 24 hours water supply. Several ULBs have been collecting water charges on fixed rates and there is shortfall in collection ranging from 67 to 95 percent. In Kodada alone the loss of revenue since 2004 has been estimated at Rs 47 crore due to non implementation of revised water tariff.

It i against this backdrop that the streamlining the existing water infrastructure and scaling up the same wherever needed would be taken up under MB which was intended to supply drinking water to about 25,000 villages and ULBs, excluding the State capital, feels senior officials in the PR&RD
department.

That apart, the Telangana Drinking Water Supply Corporation (TDWS) is expected to bring in uniform operations and pricing in the drinking water supply in the State.