Smart water meters to be installed in Manimajra

CHANDIGARH: Manimajra will be the first area in Chandigarh to have smart meters after all 11,500 houses in the area will be covered under 24*7 water supply project. Chandigarh municipal corporation is going to call tender for the project in the upcoming two weeks. Tender worth nearly Rs 20 crore will be floated for the installation of smart meters under the project.
The private company, which was hired for carrying out a detailed survey of Manimajra for round-the-clock water supply project, estimated a population of around 1lakh with 11,500 water connections.

“Installation of smart meters in Manimajra is a crucial feature of round-the-clock water supply project and thus requires a separate tender. Through the smart meters, we will not only be able to keep a watch on the daily supply and consumption of water in the area but will also be able to track down the wastage, theft or leakage of water. Through this system, we are hopeful of bringing about judicial use of water in the area,” said municipal commissioner K K Yadav.

With the installation of smart meters, there will no longer be the need of preparation of water bills by going from house to house. “The reading of the quantity of the consumed water will be monitored through the SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system, installed in the MC’s building. Through this technology, water bills will be prepared after keeping in record each litre of consumed water from each house,” Yadav added.

After installing these meters, the residents of Manimajra will be able to see the details of the consumed water on a daily basis too, and will also be able to pay the bills online. Another significant feature of the smart meters are that if any consumer tampers with it, tries to remove it or tries to install a motor to suck the water, details of the said meter will pop on the screen of SCADA and the accused will be dealt with accordingly.

The company, which gets the work of installation of the smart meters, will bear the expense of the operation and maintenance of the same in Manimajra for a period of 15 years. In case of technical glitches, the company will be be responsible for the repair work.