KOCHI: As the city thirsts, more than 23,035 million litres of water, which accounts for 37 per cent of the total water supply to the City Corporation areas, flows unaccounted every year. And the Kerala Water Authority's (KWA) average revenue loss through unbilled water flow is more than Rs 90 crore per year.
This shocking revelation was made in the detailed water auditing conducted by the Water Institute of SCMS College for the Kochi Corporation. While the KWA supplies 62,050 million litres from its Aluva pump house to the city per year, only 39,015 litres is being billed. Theft, leakage, misuse are the major reasons for the loss of precious water. Though KWA formed a special anti-theft squad - Non-Revenue Water Management (NRWM) - to check misuse and theft, the revenue loss is yet to be fully addressed.
“The KWA has no data on the distribution diagram or the actual quantity of water being used illegally. Due to the unauthorised drawing of water from pipelines, customers with valid connections are not getting enough water," said Dr. Sunny George, director of Water Institute of SCMS College, which prepared Water Policy for the Corporation after conducting the audit.
According to KWA officials water theft is more rampant in Kochi compared to other cities in the state. Commercial consumers including hotels, hospitals and construction sites are the major law breakers. Overuse and misuse are major issues. As per the KWA estimate the requirement of water by urban citizen is 120 litres per day, it is much high here.
“Even bigger cities like New Delhi have no clear data on water consumption pattern and extent of misuse. Kochi Corporation will be able to effectively manage the drinking water issues if it could chalk an action plan based on the Water Policy. As the city can't exclusively depend on rural areas for water needs, decentralised and alternative sources have to be identified,” Dr. George said.
