Goa needs a comprehensive plan to curb non-revenue water and improve distribution
The state’s newly appointed Minister for Water Supply, Subhash Phal Dessai, has said that nearly 40 per cent of Goa’s treated water is non-revenue water. It refers to potable water that is not billed, meaning the government doesn’t get any revenue from it. In other words, there are leakages or theft of water.
Phal Dessai said the department will inquire where the water goes—into the soil due to leaking pipelines or “into some factory or house” without coming under the purview of the billing system.
Forty per cent non-revenue water is a very large loss by any standards. It means the government gets revenue only from 60 per cent of the water supplied to consumers.
Is this something new? No. We have been hearing of a high percentage of non-revenue water for more than 15 years. More than a decade ago, in 2014, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, in its report, stated that almost 35 per cent of the drinking water in Goa had been ‘unaccounted’ for. According to Union urban development ministry guidelines, unbilled or unaccounted water should not exceed 15 per cent of the total supply, said the CAG then. Following this, some steps were taken.
In 2018, the then PWD minister Ramkrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar said, “Earlier NRW was 40 per cent, which has been brought down to 25 per cent with support from JICA,” and added that their target would be to get this figure down to 20 per cent. The question is: how is it that the non-revenue water has gone up? Is it not a reflection of mismanagement by the PWD?
Perhaps, the PWD was too big a department to handle efficiently. It had three wings – roads and bridges, water supply, and buildings. During the Congress government, more than 15 years ago, there was a move to bifurcate the PWD into two. Even the Parrikar government that followed didn’t make any change. It was not a tough decision to take, but, considering coalition politics, no change was effected even though at one time BJP MLAs had demanded that Dhavalikar should be relieved of the PWD.
Credit goes to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for creating a new Department of Water Supply earlier this year. When the PWD was unable to manage the water crisis in several parts of the state less than a year ago, ‘The Navhind Times’ too had suggested that a water supply section should be carved out and made a separate department. The new Minister for Water Supply has shown promise, and going by his enthusiasm, he is capable of pushing the engineers and other staff to improve the system.
The challenge is not only to provide regular water supply but also to reduce non-revenue water loss. Phal Dessai has assured an 18-hour water supply on average to 40 per cent of Goa’s population within the next six months. People have suffered due to water shortages over the years. Hopefully, the citizens will now get regular water supply – a basic necessity of life.
Losses require additional water to be produced and distributed. A high percentage of non-revenue water could be an indication of poor water management over the years. Accountability must be fixed, as it has caused a huge loss to the state exchequer. Tackling the issue is critical for efficient and sustainable water management systems. Just replacing old pipelines will not give a clear solution to the problem. A comprehensive study with suggestions from experts could help come up with a realistic plan to tackle the issue effectively.
