With several initiatives to reduce Unaccounted for Water (UFW) not yielding positive results, the Bangaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has tasked it's engineers with a bigger responsibility.
From now, the BWSSB engineers from the divisional and sub-divisional offices have to check water meter readings to verify any discrepancies. "This practice has been adopted to reduce commercial losses caused due to illegal connections, tampering of water meters among others,'' a BWSSB official said. According to the BWSSB, commercial losses are estimated to be at least 15% of the total 45% of water loss.
There are 11 divisional offices, 31 sub-divisional offices and 108 service centres of the BWSSB. Henceforth, each of the assistant executive engineers will be tasked with additional responsibility to check at least 50 water meter readings per week and 200 per month besides verifying any discrepancies in meter readings. Similarly, executive engineers are tasked with checking meter reading of non-domestic and commercial connections, the official said.
The decision was taken at the meetings of Board's divisional offices, which were chaired by BWSSB chairman Tushar Girinath on December 10 to review the status of unaccounted for water. This is the first time separate meetings of 11 divisional offices on demand, collection and balance (DCB) were conducted. "We conducted a separate meeting of each divisional offices to fix responsibility on our engineers to reduce pilferage and increase revenue. We hope to improve the Board's efficiency and our services," Girinath told DH.
Besides, engineers were also told to monitor the movement of jetting machines and water tankers using the vehicle tracking system. The BWSSBhas 68 water tankers and 120 sewer jetting machines in addition to six heavy duty sewer jetting machines.
Citizens' complaint
A common complaint by citizens was the non-availability of officers in their respective offices. "We have made it compulsory for the engineers to be present in the divisional and sub-divisional offices between 2.30 pm and 5pm on all working days. During this period, they should make themselves available for the public and attend to their grievances", the official said. Sub-divisional officers have been asked have a fixed time for a weekly meeting with local corporators. Also, the service station level staff were directed to report to the respective offices by 8am.
From now, the BWSSB engineers from the divisional and sub-divisional offices have to check water meter readings to verify any discrepancies. "This practice has been adopted to reduce commercial losses caused due to illegal connections, tampering of water meters among others,'' a BWSSB official said. According to the BWSSB, commercial losses are estimated to be at least 15% of the total 45% of water loss.
There are 11 divisional offices, 31 sub-divisional offices and 108 service centres of the BWSSB. Henceforth, each of the assistant executive engineers will be tasked with additional responsibility to check at least 50 water meter readings per week and 200 per month besides verifying any discrepancies in meter readings. Similarly, executive engineers are tasked with checking meter reading of non-domestic and commercial connections, the official said.
The decision was taken at the meetings of Board's divisional offices, which were chaired by BWSSB chairman Tushar Girinath on December 10 to review the status of unaccounted for water. This is the first time separate meetings of 11 divisional offices on demand, collection and balance (DCB) were conducted. "We conducted a separate meeting of each divisional offices to fix responsibility on our engineers to reduce pilferage and increase revenue. We hope to improve the Board's efficiency and our services," Girinath told DH.
Besides, engineers were also told to monitor the movement of jetting machines and water tankers using the vehicle tracking system. The BWSSBhas 68 water tankers and 120 sewer jetting machines in addition to six heavy duty sewer jetting machines.
Citizens' complaint
A common complaint by citizens was the non-availability of officers in their respective offices. "We have made it compulsory for the engineers to be present in the divisional and sub-divisional offices between 2.30 pm and 5pm on all working days. During this period, they should make themselves available for the public and attend to their grievances", the official said. Sub-divisional officers have been asked have a fixed time for a weekly meeting with local corporators. Also, the service station level staff were directed to report to the respective offices by 8am.