30cr water is ` lost in old city

Over 70 per cent households in the old city do not pay for the water supplied to them.

“Non-revenue water supply” is especially prevalent in divisions 1, 2 and 3 (south of the Musi) where the Water Board loses around `30 crore a month.

The average of nonrevenue water supply for the entire city is 38 per cent.

A senior official of the Water Board’s revenue wing said, “The board suffers three types of losses: Physical loss (leakages, valve repair or pipeline burst); Commercial loss – illegal connections; and non revenue water supply – unbilled, unauthorised connections).

“Many houses have one legal connection and two-three unbilled connections. A few houses do not pay according to the water consumed. If the usage is of 30 units, they will pay the bill for only 10 units. It is similar to illegal electric connections. So far the Water Board has not cracked down on such connections.”

Non-revenue water supply in other parts of the city is between 25- 38 per cent. The Water Board collects around `90 crore from bills, but if the non-revenue water supply was checked, this could go up by another `30-35 crore.

“Every drop supplied is accountable. As per the old norms, 15 per cent of non-revenue supply is acceptable. However, it is higher. In Delhi as well, the percentage of unbilled connections is 40,” added the officer.

The Board pays around `60 crore for the electricity it uses, as it has to draw water from as far away as Nagarjunasagar, 110 km, and Yellampally that is localed 186 km away the city.