The Kolkata Municipal Corporation is mulling over plans to intensify monitoring onf water wastage in the city. This comes after the civic body achieved a 52 per cent reduction in water wastage by installing water meters in six wards of the Cossipore area.
According to the KMC mayor, Firhad Hakim, the civic body is supplying about 515 million gallons of water to various parts of the city. The water being supplied should be sufficient for the city populace. However, as a considerable percentage of water is wasted, the civic body has to work on more water plants to meet the requirement.
The KMC, according to the mayor, is spending around Rs 700 crores on production of water per year. Additionally, the civic body has to bear the cost of infrastructure and other expenditures of the water supply departmen. “We want to stop the wastage of water in Kolkata.
The reason is that we spend around Rs 700 crores only on production of water every year. The greater the production the more would be the expenditure. Instead of utilising the money in other departments like Conservancy, lighting and so on, the amount has to be spent on water production as it is essential.
Therefore, we are trying to reduce wastage,” said the mayor. The civic body, has therefore, decided to form a vigilance team that would keep a check on the wastage of water in various parts of the city. As informed by Mr Hakim, the team would prepare a report and then approach the particular sites where such wastage is observed.
The KMC would also hold seminars in various areas to increase awareness amongst citizens on the subject.