Corpn. plans to regulate expenditure on borewell maintenance

From October 1, civic body has been paying Rs. 2,300 a borewell. Earlier it was Rs. 1,550

Coimbatore Corporation plans to ensure efficient functioning of bore wells and avoid paying contractors for bore wells that are in disuse. File Photo: Siva Saravanan

The Coimbatore Corporation will in the next few months initiate efforts to streamline the functioning of borewells in the city. According to sources, the move is aimed at optimising power consumption and thereby saving on the expenditure on power, and ensuring that the contractors did not overcharge the civic body for the borewell maintenance.

The sources said that the Corporation maintained nearly 2,000 borewells in the city, which it used for pumping water to public convenience facilities, parks, schools, shopping complexes, bus stands and urban health centres. The Corporation paid the power consumption charges to the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation, which worked out to around Rs. 50 lakh a month.

The Corporation maintained 264 public toilets, 160 parks and a little over 80 schools.

The Corporation also used the water to meet the needs of residents, who, otherwise, did not have access to non-potable water.

When the Corporation audited the power tariff it came to light that very many connections were categorised commercial. They ought to be under the category meant for local body. The civic body then initiated efforts to have the connections reclassified to save on energy, for the reclassification would mean that the civic body paid only Rs. 5.50 a unit.

On the maintenance front, the civic body was until recently paying Rs. 1,550 a borewell a month to the contractors. Since October 1, 2013 it had been paying Rs. 2,300 a borewell a month to the contractors. Though this revision had come after a decade or so, the Corporation was keen on ensuring that it paid the money only for those borewells that functioned at least for a minimum prescribed period in a month.

To ensure that the contractors operated the borewells, the civic body planned to automate the system to track their functioning. This would be done in the next couple of months.

The sources added that in optimising the functioning of borewells, the Corporation was not for closure of the borewells as they would meet the city’s emergency water needs during when the monsoons failed.