Rs800cr spent on water infra, yet NMC losing 52% revenue

Nagpur: Around 355 million litres per day (MLD) potable water, sufficient to meet the requirement of another city like Nagpur, continues to remain unaccounted as the civic body is unable to recover any revenue despite supplying the precious commodity.
Not just this, even after spending over Rs800 crore on water infrastructure in last 10 years and roping in private operator Orange City Water Private Limited (OCW) eight years ago, the NMC’s revenue from water has decreased and comes to around mere 47% of the total billed amount.
As per data from the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), average water billing of 2018-19 fiscal was 325 MLD (47.79%) as against total average water supply of 680 MLD. Thus, non-revenue water (NRW) was 355 MLD (52.21%).
The NMC had executed works of over Rs800 crore, including 24x7 water supply project at a cost of Rs440 crore under the central government’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme. The civic body engaged OCW from March 1, 2012. Main objectives were to provide 24x7 water to entire city, reduce NRW to 15% and increase revenue to 90%. However, the quantum of NRW has reduced by just 15MLD in last eight years. In 2011-12, water billing was 170 MLD as against total supply of 540 MLD (NRW of 370 MLD). Water supply increased by 205 MLD in these years. Though the supply was augmented by 120 MLD, Kanhan water treatment plant (WTP) added 100 MLD while Pench-IV WTP supplied 105 MLD as against its capacity of 115 MLD.
Apart from financial loss, high NRW is causing loss of precious water too. As per the thumbrule of central government and Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority (MWRRA), the civic body is supposed to supply 135 litres per capita (person) per day (LPCD). If the city’s population is estimated at 25 lakh, 337.5 MLD should be sufficient.
As far as 24x7 water supply is concerned, only 48,000 of the total 3.20 lakh households have been covered under the round-the-clock supply scheme.
Similar is the situation on revenue front. The civic body had received a revenue of Rs136.20 crore (47%) as against billing of Rs289 crore. The target was Rs180 crore.
The revenue in 2016-17 was Rs140.38 and Rs148.68 crore in 2017-18. The revenue witnessed a steep rise in these two years due to amnesty scheme. The total receipts were around Rs80 crore in 2011-12.
There is nearly 250% jump in water arrears. While the water receivables were around Rs60 crore in 2011-12, it increased to Rs145 crore in 2018-19.
NMC executive engineer Shweta Banerjee told TOI that an action plan to reduce NRW and increase revenue in the current fiscal is under preparation and will be implemented soon after taking approval of municipal commissioner Abhijit Bangar.
OCW spokesperson said all components have registered improvement since 2012-13. “NMC-OCW started joint operations from 2012-13. The number of consumers increased from 1.99 lakh in 2012-13 to 3.49 lakh in 2018-19. Revenue was Rs84 crore in 2012-13 and it increased to Rs137 crore in 2018-19. Similarly, water billing increased from 220 MLD in 2012-13 to 325-330 MLD in 2018-19, he said.