Nagpur loses 40% water supply daily, officials not addressing issue

Nagpur city receives 650 MLD of water supply daily, which increases to 700 MLD during summers. However, a significant 40% of the water supply is lost and not accounted for, resulting in no revenue for the NMC. It is unclear where this water is going, and it is a cause for concern. Despite awarding the water supply contract to a private company, the officials of the water supply department are not addressing the issue seriously.

Nagpur City’s water supply comes from Pench and Kanhan rivers, and the water is stored in 70 reservoirs within the city. However, during the year 2021-22, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) had to pay 273.09 crores to the irrigation project for lifting the water.

Every day, a water treatment plant releases 650 MLD of water to the municipal corporation. However, approximately 40 per cent of the water supply is not accounted for due to water leakages, theft, improper diversion, and non-metering of drinking water. This results in municipalities not receiving any revenue from the unaccounted water.

Under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT-1), Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) was granted approval for projects worth 3272 crore rupees to improve water supply to households by constructing new water channels and reservoirs. Currently, the NMC has received administrative approval for a proposal worth 381.85 crore rupees under AMRUT-2. The proposed project will involve laying a water channel ranging from 90 mm to 700 mm in length, replacing a 30 km old line, and providing 50,000 new domestic connections.

Who is responsible for this water leakage?

Currently, there is an administrator in the municipality. The municipality has been given the responsibility of supplying water to houses and collecting revenue for Orange City Water. It is controlled by the water supply department of the municipal corporation. Water is in charge of Superintending Engineer, two Executive Engineers, 3 Deputy Engineers, and 3 Junior Engineers. The officer is not available due to administrative work. Not talking much about the problem. They avoid saying that they are busy. Seniors do not take notice of such matters.