Kochi consumers will be able to afford expenditure for water supply, says ADB
Residents of Kochi and adjoining areas, who are covered by the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded Kerala Urban Water Services Improvement Project, would be able to afford the “expenditure for water supply and sewerage services” as their spending on water and sewerage services would be “less than the acceptable levels of expenditure,” according to the ADB.
In a first in Kerala, water supply system in Kochi to be entrusted to private firm
The project analysis done by the ADB noted that households in the project area paid around 1% to 3.4% of their income for water supply and sewerage services. It will remain at 0.9% to 3.3% in 2025 when the project becomes operational. The “estimated household expenditure for water supply and sewerage services in the project area was found to be less than the accepted level of 5% of the total household income, confirming the affordability for the project beneficiaries,” the ADB assessed.
The international agency assessed the water supply distribution network of Kochi as outdated, resulting in 51% of “unaccounted-for water, or non-revenue water”.
According to the ADB, the service levels have deteriorated in recent years, with intermittent and inequitable water supply, and low-pressure areas are formed owing to lack of maintenance. Water distribution pipelines suffer faults at a rate, which is 10 times the acceptable norms and around half of the pipelines need replacement. The inadequate water supply services pose a major health risk, the agency noted in its report.
The Kochi zone, comprising Kochi city and 18 local bodies, together have an estimated water deficit of 67 million litres per day, which is projected to increase to 143 MLD in 2050. Kochi city, which consumes around 50% of the total water supply of the zone, will be affected by the projected water deficit, according to the report.
The bank document, which does not elaborate much on the proposed water tariff, notes that the Government of Kerala had “adopted a volumetric tariff structure and revises water tariff periodically.” The government revised water tariff in February 2023 as a measure to improve the financial health of the Kerala Water Authority. The water tariff was increased for all consumers by ₹10 per kilo litre. For domestic consumers, for the first 5 kilo litre, ₹72.05 per household would be charged and for every additional kilo litre, a volumetric slab rate would be applicable, it noted.
- Telegram
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