Pure water from taps may be a reality

By K. Satyamurty

BANGALORE, DEC. 14. Filling a glass of drinking water straight from the tap in your kitchen? Not as impossible as it may sound, and may happen in Bangalore sooner than one expects.

While manufacturers of water purifying devices and bottled water may not be too happy at the prospect, the average citizen will be, when this happens. It may mean more people having to pay for their water, but the cost in the long term will be much less than what we now have to pay for treatment of water-borne diseases and bottled water, says Mr. Simon Montague, Country Director based in Bangalore for the British subsidiary of Suez Lyonnais des Eaux, one of the two overseas agencies engaged by the State Government to improve and enhance the City's water supply.

By March 2001, Suez Lyonnais will take up a pilot project covering a population of one million in an area in the City, Mr. Montague told The Hindu. A contract will be entered into with the BWSSB to carry out the pilot project which will cover improving the quality and quantity of water supplied, storage and the supply system, and consumer relations.

The pilot project will be followed by one covering a larger part of Bangalore (nearly half of the City is to be covered by the other overseas agency, Vivendi Water), and this will be under a long-term agreement with the State Government and the BWSSB. The agreement/contract will be a public document and completely transparent, "as we are not here for the short term," Mr. Montague says. There will be involvement of NGOs and provision for consumer "call centres" in the zone identified for the pilot project.

On the specific problems faced by Bangloreans on the water supply front, he says that out of the 600 to 700 million litres a day (MLD) of water supplied to the City, there is considerable loss due to leakages. Even official estimates put the percentage of leaks at 30 to 50 per cent, and in some areas of the City it may be as high as 57 per cent. By improving the water supply system, and replacing it where necessary, the leakages can be reduced to a minimum. This, by itself, will increase the quantity of water supplied.

Suez Lyonnais's pilot project will also pay attention to improving water pressure, so that no neighbourhood is deprived of adequate water. With groundwater levels fast depleting in and around the City, there is also the issue of finding alternative sources of water, especially for the industries.

The French agency will also be involved in helping the BWSSB plan better disposal of waste water, sewage treatment and replacement of the older sewage lines. "If some of the waste water flows back into the river, we want to make sure it is put back as clean as it came," Mr. Montague says.

On the financial and social implications of privatising a public utility such as water supply, the Suez Lyonnais representative was very forthcoming. The agency dealt with a similar situation in the U.K. when the then Prime Minister, Ms. Margaret Thatcher, turned in public utilities to the private sector. There is also the experience gained from executing projects in South America and Asian cities such as Manila and Jakarta.

In Manila, 30,000 new water connections could be provided in one year, benefiting 200,000 people, and this included the poorer sections. In Manila and Jakarta, as also in the U.K., the water tariff could actually be reduced after privatisation, thanks to better management.

The norm to be followed in Bangalore will be similar to that in other developing countries: no consumer will be required to pay more than 1 to 5 percentage of his/her total income. More attention will be paid to the more congested and poorer parts of the City. As for the cost of the project(s), it is pointed out that a similar effort in Buenos Aires in South America, with a population of ten millions, cost $ 1.2 billion.

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