Mobile, online water bill payment a reality soon

With the BWSSB planning to accept mobile and online payments, water bills payment is set to become easier in the future. Chief Engineer (Cauvery), BWSSB, Vasudevan announced this on Monday, while presenting a paper on e-governance in BWSSB during the three-day `National Conference on Urban Water Management: Challenges and Options (NCUWM-09),’ which commenced here on Sunday.

Elaborating the proposed system to the media, BWSSB Chairperson P B Ramamurthy said that Indiranagar would become the first area to accept mobile payment. A pilot project will be launched here within a month and would later be extended to all areas under BWSSB.

On the cess the consumer will have to pay for the facility, the chairperson said that it would be a minimal amount, and not more than five rupees. Payments can also be made through internet but this facility would be operational only after six months.

The chairperson declined to comment on the possibility of a hike in water tarrif owing to hike in power tarrif. Extra cost that the Board would incur would work out to be 10.2% more than what was being paid to the electricity board now. Out of an annual revenue of Rs 480 crore, we are paying nearly Rs 240 crore towards power charges, the highest paid by any water supply body in the country.

Earlier, BWSSB Minister Katta Subramanya Naidu, who inaugurated the conference, called for setting up of small water distillation units in all residences to purify water and also because they are inexpensive.

The City’s water requirement will be 2,550 Million Litres Per Day (MLD) by 2040. The present water supply including future plans to augment it will only permit the City to receive 1,500 MLD. Considering this, the department was now enforcing dual pipeline system, wherein one would be for portable and another for non-potable use, the minister said.

Twenty sewage treatments plants are being constructed all over the City, at an estimated cost of Rs 1,000 crore, to supply non-potable water, he added.
President of Bavarian Environment Agency in Germany Dr Ing Albert Gottle called for construction of reservoirs across rivers to regulate them.

An exhibition on water was also inaugurated. Dr A Ravindra, Advisor to the Chief Minister, BDA Commissioner Siddaiah and others took part.