The State government will hand over water supply in Belagavi city to a private infrastructure company, with a mandate to expand 24x7 water supply to the whole city and manage the entire process, from storage to filtering to supply and billing.
The World Bank-funded project will be taken up on a Design, Build, Operate, Maintain and Transfer (DBOMT) basis. Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board will transfer assets and manpower to the private company, which will run the water supply system for 15 years. The assets and manpower will be returned to the board after the contract period is over.
As of now, the 24x7 water supply is available only in 10 of the 58 wards. This will be extended to all the wards in the next five years. In the first phase, 85,000 homes will get round-the-clock water, a KUWSDB officer said.
The ₹800-crore project involves the laying of 900 km of pipelines and their maintenance for the contract period.
Officers of the private company have begun a door-to-door survey of water supply and the challenges in various wards. They are expected to take over the water supply by April.
“The challenge in the old city is that the water supply channels are very old and it is difficult to repair them because of the narrow roads and congested living areas. The challenge in the new city is that there are not enough storage spaces and distribution points, owing to the undulating landscape and scattered residential areas. The private company officers have been appraised of this. They have promised to come up with innovative solutions,” a city corporation officer said.
The aim is to provide piped water with continuous pressurised water supply to every residential unit. The project is expected to achieve 100% billing and collection and reduction of losses to the board and the city corporation, officials said.
