Nashik
Under the Central Government’s Amrut Scheme, the proposal of Rs 300 crore funds for laying new water pipelines has been approved in principle. Against this backdrop, the municipal water supply department is going to re-audit the water leakage. An expenditure of Rs 60 lakh is estimated for this and there are indications that this work will start in the new year through a private entity.
The audit was done in 2015. According to that report, the rate of water leakage is 18 per cent. The challenge in front of the municipal corporation is to provide a smooth water supply to the citizens of the city. The city requires 540 MLD of water per day. But, water leakage is a big concern.
The then Municipal Commissioner Praveen Gedam had ordered a water leakage audit in the general body meeting. Accordingly, the water supply department conducted an audit of the water leakage through a private firm.
Accordingly, the water pipelines directly released from the Gangapur dam, the water wasted during the process at the water treatment plants, the faulty water pipelines supplying water to the city and the faulty meters etc. were studied.
As per the findings, 18 per cent of the total water consumption was found to be leakage. It was revealed that four per cent of water was wasted during the water purification process after lifting water from the dam. It was found that the rest of the water was being wasted due to the failure of the water pipelines, leakage, bad tap connection etc. The water supply department could not plan effective measures to stop the leakage due to a lack of funds. Meanwhile, as the hopes of getting funds under the Amrit Scheme have been revived, the water supply department is going to conduct a fresh audit before implementing the scheme. This will help in stopping water leakage. The audit will start in the new year.
