Get ready to pay more for water as BWSSB set to seek a raise

Tariff not hiked since 2005, but power charges increased four times in 5 years

Get ready to pay more for water. The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), which has not hiked the water tariff since 2005, although power tariff was increased at least four times in the last five years, will soon seek a raise.

The burden of electricity charges falls on the BWSSB as it pays nearly Rs 38 crore for power. Its earnings from bill collection are just Rs 40 crore to Rs 45 crore.

After increasing the water tariff to a flat Rs 19 per kilo litre for all bulk consumers, mainly apartment dwellers, in June 2013, the BWSSB is likely to send a revised proposal for water tariff hike to the government shortly, an official said on condition of anonymity.

The BWSSB pays Rs 27 crore to pump water from Thorekadanahalli (TK Halli), 100 km from Bangalore, in three stages. Besides, it spends money on pumping water within the City to various reservoirs, and the borewell charges.

The rest of the money is spent on staff salaries, operations and maintenance. The official said that the BWSSB had not paid borewell charges running into nearly Rs 100 crores since 2006. The Board has more than 12,000 borewells mainly in the fringe areas, of which nearly 8,000 are functioning.

According to the official, the burden of each power tariff hike falls on the BWSSB as it will have to pay more without getting anything in return. “Before the launch of the Cauvery IV Stage II Phase, Bangalore was facing a severe water crisis. Back then, the board could not think of increasing the water tariff, since there was already a crisis,” the officer explained. “But we spent more each time power tariff was hiked.”

Besides the frequent power tariff hikes, the BWSSB faces problems in mobilising new consumers for the additional 500 million litres of water per day (mld) commissioned in October 2012. Although the BWSSB has a capacity to pump 500 mld, it is pumping just 260 mld to meet the City’s needs.

In 2010, the government sent back the BWSSB’s proposal for a “reasonable” hike in water tariff. Three years on, the government is yet to take a decision.

The BWSSB runs on a ‘no profit no loss’ basis and just about meets the ends, its chairman, Gaurav Gupta, said.  “The board doesn’t get any revenue subsidy. The hike for bulk consumers was proposed around three years ago. We have been seeking an increase in water tariff, but the government is dillydallying,” Gupta told Deccan Herald.