Water connections get dearer

Water connections get dearer
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: With the Greater Bangalore Water Supply and Sanitation Project (GBWASP) falling into place, Bangloreans will have to cough up as much as Rs 15,000 for a new water connection.

The water and sanitation project will cover seven CMCs (Bommanahalli, Bytatarayanapura, Dasarahalli, Krishnarajapuram, Mahadevapura, Rajarajeshwarinagar, Yelahanka) and one Town Municipal Council (Kengeri).

The entire cost of supplying water to 1.5 million Bangloreans in the 244.7 kilometre project area is Rs 340.55 crores.

User contributions come a close second to loans from external agencies, namely the World Bank, at Rs 119.44 and Rs 229.01 respectively.

What’s more, user contributions from this area might go up. ‘‘The areas are developing very fast. Vertical structures are on the rise”.

“To cover this additional growth we require another Rs 211.19 crore for the project, ’’ said S.M. Basavaraju, Chief Engineer of BWSSB.

One-time contributions of users might go up to as much as Rs 400 crores at Rs 8,500 per domestic user.

Mere connection costs will range from Rs 2,500 to Rs 30,000 for domestic and commercial user connections, as against Rs 1,740 for domestic users today.

Several questions have arisen at municipal meetings. No concessions have been given to the poor which is about 40 per cent of the population there.

‘‘There is no free or subsidised connection to people belonging to the BPL category”.

“We think the people will finally get quality water and there is no harm in paying for quality, ’’ said Ramesh Ramanathan of Janaagraha.

Another move to include the poor involves electing one member belonging to the BPL category to each ward project committee of four to five persons of that particular CMC or TMC.

Sufficient information is lacking, say inhabitants of hutments. Anitha from Association for Voluntary Action and Service (AWAS), said, ‘‘First and foremost, there has not been any systematic dissemination of information from the BWSSB. The project needs to have an urban poor approach”.

“The slum communities are willing to pay an affordable amount for water, but Rs 2,500 as connection charges is absolutely irrational. We will fight this if it isn’t revised.’’