Water pilferage highest in Naupada, Mumbra lowest

THANE: The middle class bastions of Naupada and Uthalsar areas in Thane witness the highest volume of distribution losses of water apparently due to rampant thefts and leakage compared to neighbouring Mumbra and Diva.

Records stated in a study undertaken by the water department to understand the present water distribution and management in Thane reveal that while 360 litres per person daily water is drawn by the Naupada ward, barely 249 litres reaches the end user. The study, exclusively accessed by TOI, shows that not only does the ward get excess water as compared to the standard 150 litres per capita daily prescribed by the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) mandate but an apparent faulty distribution network is leading to loss of around 111 litres daily per person. Meanwhile, Uthalsar ward ranks second with around 101 litres per person lost daily.

Interestingly, Mumbra ward that is at the fag end of the distribution network sees the least volume of losses with barely 51 litres per person lost daily as each of its residents get nearly 121 litres as against 176 litres supplied.

The average distribution losses for the city remains at 75 litres per person as just 168 litres is received as against the supply of 243.47 litres. The TMC claims that nearly 32-37 per cent of its water supply daily is lost due to thefts and unplugged leakages causing a huge deficit to the administration that pays nearly Rs 30 lakh daily for sourcing 480 million litres daily from various agencies.
The readings are part of a study underaken by the administration to understand the quantum of losses in each of the administrative wards following outcry by the residents and activists in recent times. The readings, said officials, was taken based on the meter readings available at each of the storage facilities in the wards. Each of the wards have five to 10 main distribution points that record the supply before it is passed on to consumers. However, lack of metering system for individual consumers is proving to be a huge setback for the civic body to come to an accurate conclusion about the losses.
Civic officials justified that there have been corrections and action on pilferages and thefts in the network and the litre per capita per day losses are likely to be less in the upcoming water audit. The introduction of water meters for all connections that is in the pipeline will help them shortlist areas with maximum losses and help plug wastage or non revenue water.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.