Public taps bleed city coffers

The city Corporation has been paying annual charges for more than 900 non-existent public taps to the Kerala Water Authority (KWA). The discrepancy in the number of taps came to light in a joint survey of all the public taps in the city, carried out by the Corporation and KWA authorities, following a directive of the head of the Corporation’s audit wing.

The inspection began in November last year and was completed last month, covering all the 100 wards in the Corporation area. As per the inspection report, there are 3,005 public taps in the city. But, according to the KWA records, the figure is 3,952. The city Corporation has been paying annual charges for all these non-existent taps.

The local body is also planning to request the KWA to close down 126 of these public taps, as there have been cases of misuse of water for cleaning vehicles and for supplying to restaurants. Once these too are deducted from the original number, only 2879 public taps will remain in the city limits. A large number of these are located in the coastal area, where water connections are yet to reach many places.

The Corporation has been paying an additional amount of close to ₹90 lakh annually, including fine amounts, for these taps.

‘Recalculate bill’

The total water bill for the local body this year is ₹14 crore. It will now request the KWA to recalculate these amounts, considering the discrepancy in the number of taps.

The local body has also decided to ensure that new public taps in various wards be allowed only with the special permission of the council, in case there is need for any.