KMC to install water meters in households of Wards 1-6

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will install water meters in every household in Wards 1 to 6 respectively in North Kolkata to assess wastage of drinking water.

The project will be a pilot one and has been taken up to streamline the supply of filtered water so that if wastage can be stopped, then more people can be brought under the supply net.

Wards 1 to 6 are situated in North Kolkata and receives water from Tallah. The KMC is planning to provide 24 hour water supply in most of the wards and 12 hour in some other wards. For this, assessment of water wastage is required. Currently, KMC supplies water three times a day in the city. The early morning in high pressure is supplied from 5.30 am to 9 am. Then in the afternoon from 3.30 pm to 5 pm, water is supplied in low pressure. Again, from 5.30 pm to 9pm, water is supplied in medium pressure. Kolkata is the only metropolitan city which does not have drinking water crisis and filtered water is supplied in abundance.

After coming to power in 2011, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee categorically stated that no water tax would be imposed. The funding agencies like Asian Development Bank had suggested imposition of water tax in the city. Banerjee said not only would water tax not be imposed but also stressed that supply of filtered water would be augmented. Accordingly, the KMC took steps to augment water supply.

But as the cost of production of filtered water is going up, it has become absolutely necessary to stop wastage of water. The water meter will be installed in the underground reservoir. Once the reservoir is full, the valve installed will stop any further supply. So, wastage of water will be stopped. A senior civic official said that when roadside taps were there in the city, nearly 10 million gallon of filtered water was wasted daily. After the abolition of roadside taps, the wastage has been reduced to a great extent.

Mayor Sovan Chatterjee said that the water meters would help assess the quantity of water required in every household. Once the KMC has this figured, it will be easier to stop the wastage.

The KMC also proposed to supply filtered water round the clock and for this, augmentation of supply and wastage should go hand in hand. He said that in the next few years, there would be no water scarcity in the city including some pockets where there is a shortage for various reasons.