Bhayandar: Stung by the misdeeds and corrupt practises of their own personnel, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) in an attempt to do away with manual errors and deliberate manipulations, has now geared up to upgrade the existing analogue water meters to its digital version.
As a part of the pilot project carrying a price tag of more than 5.38 crore, MBMC’s water supply department will soon introduce “smart” electronic meters for commercial users along with a software that will digitally calculate water consumption and make the billing process in the twin-city transparent. Based on the success of the pilot project, smart meters will be extended to all users in a phase wise manner.
Out of the 39,565 water users, 2,928 connections fall in the commercial category. Armed with automated meter reading (AMR) capabilities, the system will be similar to smart meters used for electrical readings that enables the measurement of detailed, time-based recording with an added ability to share the data with customers.
Citizens are supposed to be charged for the water as per the usage, however, thanks to the shoddy mechanism and corruption prevailing in the water supply department, around 50 per cent of water bills across the twin-city is calculated based on self-implied estimations.
It should be noted that a section of water meter readers are already under the scanner of investigations for their suspected involvement in playing truant with the billing mechanism by manipulating readings and fulfilling their selfish monetary
motives.