Want free drinking water? Fit your meters

HYDERABAD: As many as four lakh consumers in Greater Hyderabad limits will not be supplied free drinking water up to 20,000 litres (20 KL) per month as they do not have water meters in their homes. To avail free drinking water supply, it is mandatory for all individual domestic consumers to have meters installed on their own cost at the earliest.

However, consumers in domestic slums do not need to install individual water meters. Their consumption will be assessed through slum docket water meters.Of the 9.80 lakh households spread over 14 divisions of Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB), about four lakh consumers do not have water meters, while slum dwellers have over two lakh water connections. At the same time, over two lakh consumers have functioning metres and another 1.5 lakh have metres which are defunct or under repair.

The Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) department has issued guidelines for implementation of the scheme. All domestic slum dwellers of Hyderabad should be delivered a ‘zero water bill’ with effect from December 2020.  The monthly bill for 20KL comes to around `323. Official sources told Express that consumption above 20KL will be charged as per applicable tariff. The customers shall be given an opportunity to fix meters by March 31, 2021, through empanelled meter agencies. As the authentication of Aadhaar cards and fixing of meters may take time, bills will be issued from April 1, 2021  to all the eligible customers.

Zero water bill in slums
According to MAUD Department guidelines, all domestic slum dwellers in Hyderabad must be delivered a ‘zero water bill’ with effect from December 2020. There are over two lakh water connections in slums