Earlier this year, nearly 80,000 households were found to have drawn unauthorised connections from the pipeline network of Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB). This was of the estimated two lakh illegal connections.
Several months later, a study sanctioned by the Board revealed that nearly 80 per cent of its consumers reported lack of checks into water theft, while 60 per cent of BWSSB staff, though aware of instances of water theft, were unable to contain them. Around 20 per cent of the users reported a breakdown in the water supply because of leakages in the pipeline, bursting of water pipes and diversion of water from the main line.
Conducted by Bengaluru-based think-tank Public Affairs Centre to assess BWSSB’s services using its Citizen Report Card approach to include consumer and provider feedback, the study ‘Assessment of BWSSB Services’ interviewed 2,057 consumers selected from the catchment area of nine divisions. These were consumers who had got a new water and sewerage connection in the last five years. The study excluded consumers in apartments and commercial complexes citing lack of awareness of release/use of water from BWSSB.
Among the findings were that 41 per cent of the consumers surveyed said they received new connections only after two weeks. Apart from loopholes in controlling water theft, the study also found that awareness levels about ‘water adalats’, a platform for grievance redressal, was woefully low, with 94 per cent of the consumers being unaware of it.
A little more than half (52 per cent) of the consumers conveyed that the bills were always correct, whereas 10 per cent said they were inaccurate. The average water bill per month per household stood at Rs. 453. Many of them sought an app for bill payment.
