KMC to remove water supply standposts
Kolkata: In a bid to stop the wastage of water, Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Firhad Hakim said the civic body will be removing most of the water standposts in the city.
The Mayor told the Press that a lot of water gets wasted. He said: “Just because there is no tax on water, it does not mean that it can be wasted. People are careful enough to switch off the fans and lights but not water taps.”
He said these standposts have anyway become redundant since “we are now supplying water to doorsteps in big slums”. “We do not want people to have to travel far from their homes to queue up for water,” he remarked.
Hakim said in places where standposts are still in use, people there need to ensure their maintenance. “In several places, such stand posts have been damaged by locals,” he said. The Mayor further said that in several places KMC is also installing stop cocks to stop wastage.
In a bid to check the wastage of water, KMC has also begun the installation of water meters but clarifying that no tax will be imposed on water supply.
The civic body has already installed these meters in houses of wards 101,102,107 and 110. A KMC official said: “KMC is working to increase the flow of water supply to all its wards. It is essential that we try to reduce wastage as far as possible. Many times, a household ends up wasting water. This meter will help us have a fair idea of the amount of water required by a household,” the official said.
Sources said that KMC had to start installing such meters in 2017 after the Asian Development Bank, which is funding the overhauling of Kolkata’s underground piped water distribution network, pressured the civic body to do so. The work of installing water meters was first initiated in North Kolkata during the time of former Mayor Sovan Chatterjee. Then it was installed in Cossipore, Belgachia, Tala and a few other areas in the north.
A KMC source said every summer, water supply crunch is faced by households in the areas of Jadavpur, Baghajatin, and parts of East Kolkata. “Meters were installed in households in these areas to ensure that after boosting water supply, there is no wastage,” said the source. The implementing agency for the installation of the water meters is KEIIP.
