Water Mafia of Mumbai #03: What are the Water Costs for Residents?
Water Mafia of Mumbai #03: What are the Water Costs for Residents?
Vivek Agrawal
Mumbai, 17 August 2019
Water, a fundamental necessity for survival, remains limited in its availability. Within Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) channels more than 4,000 million liters of water per day from lakes located up to 163 km away. This water, partially transported through gravitational forces, undergoes treatment, storage, and pumping to eventually reach households. The expenditure incurred by the municipality for every 1,000 liters amounts to Rs 19.44. However, the pertinent question arises: what are the water charges borne by the inhabitants of Mumbai?
Determining the cost of water necessitates a careful equilibrium between affordability and the need to cover service expenses. This equilibrium is manifested in the variable rates set by the BMC based on the nature of consumers, with housing being the pivotal criterion. The stipulated fee for residential areas stands at Rs 5.94 per kiloliter, while informal settlements are charged at Rs 4.44 per kiloliter.
Nevertheless, informal practices and bureaucratic obstacles dictate the landscape for informal settlements, constituting a substantial 42% to 55% of the city’s population. Municipal water supply remains inaccessible to those operating beyond this structured system, such as the homeless and ‘encroachers’. This demographic, numbering nearly two million, lacks legal water connections and is left to navigate their water needs independently. Often resorting to unauthorized connections or procuring water from private vendors at exorbitant rates becomes their reality.
Consequently, the outcome is that the most economically disadvantaged individuals end up paying disproportionately higher costs for minimal water quantities, often allocating more than 8% of their meager incomes towards this essential requirement. This insight is derived from a report authored by the Pani Haq Samiti, a committee advocating for water rights.
Deconstructing the Water Invoice
A communal water meter often used in apartment complexes / Most residents in Mumbai do not receive itemized water bills. Image: Wikimedia Commons
The stipulated rate of Rs 5.94 per kiloliter is applicable only up to a certain threshold – 150 liters per capita per day (lpcd), a benchmark prescribed by the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO).
“In our calculations, we take into account a family size of 5 individuals to determine the required household quantity,” explains an engineer from the hydraulic department of the BMC. This computation extends the base rate to 750 liters per day per household. Usage exceeding this amount is subject to a higher tariff, escalating by Rs 5.94 for every incremental 50 liters. When consumption surpasses 250 liters, the cost leaps to four times the base rate – Rs 23.8 per kiloliter.
Yet, the typical water bill for consumers doesn’t directly reflect the relationship between usage and expenditure. This divergence arises mainly because most individual connections lack meters. Due to added costs and maintenance concerns, individual meters that should be linked to each water inlet remain a rarity. Moreover, it’s impractical, as per a hydraulic engineer at the BMC, to manage the creation of numerous individually calculated bills.
Instead, the billing approach is uniform within a housing complex. Water meters are installed at the building or housing society level, and the charges are evenly distributed, irrespective of differing consumption patterns among households. In cases where meters are non-operational, past readings or estimated water needs serve as a substitute – a situation that prevails given the reportedly non-functional state of 70% of the meters.
Subsequently, the apartment Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) allocates charges to individual residents, often based on the count of water inlets on their premises.
Anandi Surve, a resident of Kandivali, pays Rs 80 per month per inlet (with a total of four inlets), translating to a monthly additional charge of Rs 320 on her maintenance bill.
Approximately 4% of older water connections in the city lack meters and are subject to a ‘cost for service’ embedded within their property tax (0.253% of capital value), as opposed to a ‘cost for amount’.
Disparity in Water Rates: Contrasting Formal Housing and Informal Settlements
Residing with his family of five in Ketkipada, Dahisar, Mahesh Shinde’s dwelling is situated in a notified slum area (pre-2000). Such areas grant legal entitlements to water, electricity, and gas connections for their occupants. Each cluster shares a single metered water tap, catering to the water needs of 10 households.
During the designated water flow period from 10:30 to 11:30 PM, residents systematically fill blue drums, jerry cans, and buckets positioned in the narrow corridor adjacent to their doorways. As the first to fill, Mahesh Shinde often allows some water to run to waste until it runs clear. The accumulated three-month water bill spans Rs 1400-2400, which, when divided among them, results in a monthly expense of Rs 50-80 per household.
However, slum residents are allocated only 45 liters per capita per day. Taking into account each household’s five members, Mahesh Shinde’s monthly water consumption amounts to 6,750 liters. This usage is theoretically priced at Rs 29.97 according to BMC’s official rate.
Although Mahesh Shinde typically finds the provided quantity sufficient for his family, it falls substantially short of the urban water supply benchmark set at 135 liters per capita per day by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). The rationale, according to a hydraulic department engineer, lies in the reduced storage capacity and the comparatively modest demands of slum inhabitants.
If Mahesh Shinde were to match the benchmark usage, the disparity would necessitate reliance on water tankers. With tanker charges starting at a minimum of Rs 200 per kiloliter, his expenses would soar by Rs 540 per person, ultimately totaling Rs 2700.
Next: Water Mafia of Mumbai #04: Is Equal Access to Water Possible?
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