The draft notification for inviting tenders from bidders to take over the work is ready. But the process will commence only after the formation of council in the TMC.

Kundapur town in Udupi district till last March, was mainly depending on groundwater. Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) with the assistance of Asian Development Bank (ADB) selected 10 coastal towns including Kundapur for improving water, sanitation and solid waste management. As much as Rs 996 crore was the loan received by KUIDFC and for Kundapur alone nearly Rs 18 crore has been spent.

The TMC has the task of supplying piped water to 4,500 houses from river Varahi. From last March, the TMC, on an experimental basis, is supplying water to 1,500 houses. The work, which was outsourced under three packages, has been completed. The water supply is entrusted to a contractor. Now, the TMC has to find a new private agency to take up operation and maintenance of intake well, water treatment plant including electrical mechanical installation, pumping machineries, supply system and distribution networks.

It should also take over operational issues relating to customer service, billing, employee management and asset maintenance among other things, according to the draft tender notification. The draft, which runs into hundreds of pages, says that the contractor will have to be totally accountable to the TMC.

According to Rayappa, Chief Officer, Kundapur TMC, once the piped water supply began last year, all 1,000 public taps in the town has been disconnected. “For each connection, Rs 2,000 is being collected as deposit, which is refundable and another Rs 2,000 may have to be spent by the consumer for getting the water pipeline laid. All connections will be metered and all, irrespective of their financial status, will be paying money for water. I don’t think any consumer will be paying more than Rs 100 a month. The tariff will be fixed by the TMC. At present the water supply is for five hours a day”.

According to a KUIDFC official, the TMC is forced to hand-over the O&M as it has no capacity to do on its own.

“ADB has funded the project which runs into crores of rupees. We have created the asset. It is up to the TMC to utilise it,” the officer said.