MCC to crack down on illegal water users

Mangalore, March 27: While severe shortage of water has hit many parts of the state with the onset of summer, water in large quantities is being wasted through leakages in Mangalore city. Also, pilferage and misuse of water have become a major concern for the MCC, which hopes to mitigate the problem by curbing illegal connections and regularising them.

According to MCC records, the actual number of consumers in the city crosses 1.2 lakh. However, the total number of water supply connections is only about 72,000. As per MCC norms, water requirement per person is 135 lires per day (MLD). Going by this, water requirement for 72,000 authorised connections should be about 50 MLD. However, as of now, 160 MLD water is being pumped to the city, which is a clear indication that water is being misused, pilfered or lost through leakages.

The requirement of water for the entire city in 2026 is pegged at 80-90 million litres per day (MLD) as per the survey conducted by the Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environment Management Project (KUDCEMP).

To check irregularities, the MCC has come forward with a new scheme of regularising all illegal water supply connections. Those who have obtained water supply connections illegally without MCC's consent can voluntarily disclose it to get a valid connection under the new scheme.

MCC commissioner K N Vijayaprakash told the TOI that a large number of commercial establishments in the City have unauthorised water supply connections. Similarly, many domestic connections in the city too are illegal. Besides this, some use the drinking water to irrigate their agriculture fields, he said, adding that all such irregularities can be rectified once the 24x7 water supply scheme was introduced.

Crisil, the consultants for 24x7 water supply scheme of the MCC, has already been asked to prepare a detailed project report. Currently, the MCC does not have a comprehensive map of the pipelines in the city. A comprehensive mapping will be done to ascertain the total water supply connections and pipeline networks in the city. Later, sensors will be fixed to the water pipelines on all junctions to identify the leakage. Mobile sensor equipment will also be purchased to identify leakage at remote places where there are no sensors, Vijayaprakash explained.