Will the PWD Minister or the officials explain to consumers the delay in installation, supply and maintenance of water meters under the JICA project signed by the government way back in January 2013?
When this question was posed to the PWD Minister, Sudin Dhavalikar, he conceded that the project had hit a roadblock for some time, but hastened to add that it will be completed at the earliest. A glance at the agreement copy signed by the JICA Project Director on behalf of the PWD on January 19, 2013, shows that work on the installation of the water meters was to commence latest by February 8, 2013, at a contract amount of Rs 53.73 crore. The entire project of replacing the old meters and install new ones under the Selaulim water supply scheme for water consumers in Sanguem, Quepem, Salcete and Mormugao talukas was to be completed by
February 7, 2015.
Inquiries by The Goan, however, revealed that of the 93,000 water meters that were supposed to be installed within the stipulated time frame, only around 25,000 have been installed till date. When The Goan contacted Executive Engineer Karekar to shed light on the delay, he said that the contractor has installed 25,000 meters till date, adding that work is in progress to install the remaining ones. “Barring Canacona, we have around 1.20 lakh water consumers in the talukas of Sanguem, Quepem, Salcete and Mormugao, but the contractor was scheduled to install only around 93,000 water meters,” he said.
Sudin plans to install JICA meters in entire South
While consumers are complaining of hefty water bills after replacement of old meters with new ones, PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar has plans to install JICA meters in entire South Goa, irrespective of whether the consumers come under the Selaulim water supply scheme or not.
The reason is simple. The PWD Minister is satisfied with the functioning of the water meters, saying that the JICA meters have helped the department to shore up revenue by nearly 20 per cent. “Hence, I have decided to implement the automatic meters in entire South Goa, including Canacona taluka, which till date fell outside the purview of the Selaulim water supply scheme,” Dhavalikar added. He said the objective behind replacement of the old meters with new ones was to ensure there’s no leakage of revenue from water consumption. Since we are happy with the new meters, the same will be installed for all the consumers,” he added. Dhavalikar stated further: “I do not see anything wrong if the new meters are giving accurate water consumption reading. After all, the Goa PWD is providing quality water to the consumers at a cheap price compared to other states. When people can spend Rs 12 to buy a litre of packaged water, I do not think they will find any problem in paying Rs 2.50 for a cubic meter of water,” Dhavalikar asserted.
Complaints galore of hefty bills
The PWD Water Supply office located at Monte Hill, Margao, is flooded with complaints from water consumers, either over the delay or for hefty bills running into thousands of rupees.
PWD Assistant Engineer, Vijai Kudchadkar, attributed the situation to the problem relating to printing of the bills. “Though the bills were printed on time, we came across glaring printing errors. We had no option but to return them to the agency for correction and rectification,” he added.
Kudchadkar’s office is also flooded with complaints of hefty bills. The PWD Minister has directed his OSD to take cognizance of the situation.
