The Kerala Water Authority (KWA) has initiated action against 19 non-domestic consumers on charges of tampering with water meters and thereby causing revenue loss to the water utility. The fraud came to light during an inspection conducted by three teams in commercial establishments on Mahatma Gandhi Road.
In the last four weeks, the team inspected 1,900 commercial establishments situated on the M.G. Road stretch and found that 19 of them had, with the help of skilled persons, tampered with the meters. The technique adopted by these consumers was to reverse the rotation of the meter during night time. “The meter was made to rotate in the reverse direction. The reading hence would be backward, in effect. This can be done with the help of plumbers. We have sought an explanation from these 19 consumers and accordingly penalised them for adopting fraudulent practices,” a senior official with the KWA told The Hindu .
An official with the inspection team said they were examining whether some of the meters were altered to run slow as there was wide gap in the meter readings. The drive to detect instances of tampering among non-domestic consumers would continue and the next round of inspection would be on the outskirts of the city. Similar drives would be conducted among domestic consumers, the official said adding that it was part of the efforts to bring down the quantity of non-revenue water (NRW).
The water utility has adopted a twin approach — detection of water theft and recovery of arrears — to bring down non-revenue water. Of the total potable water produced in the city, 40.75 per cent goes as non-revenue water (NRW) in the form of leakage, theft, and faulty meters. The utility plans to bring down NRW to 20 per cent, which is the national benchmark. The revenue loss on account of the NRW was Rs.26.76 crore during 2012-13, the official said.
Meanwhile, the water utility will hold an adalat shortly for settlement of arrears for domestic and non-domestic consumers in the city. The arrears due from government departments and educational institutions alone accounts for around Rs. 20 crore, the official said.
