Water utilities in major cities have weak working ratios: E&Y

Water utilities in major Indian cities show a ‘poor working ratio’ – a measure of their operational efficiency, financial health and stability -- says a new report by global advisory firm, Ernst & Young.

Kolkata’s water utilities had the weakest working ratio, followed by Jaipur and Delhi. The best performance was in Mumbai, followed by Chennai and Bangalore, the report says.

The report, calling for a paradigm shift in water resource management, favours a unified action plan by public and private entities.

It calls for bringing about reforms in water pricing with the aim to maximise the usage efficiency. “Such reforms require a shift towards market-based instruments such as water trading, recycled water certificates and designing of effective water tariffs”, it says.

Stating that over 60 per cent households in major Indian cities were water-deficient and industrial water use estimated to rise four-fold by 2050, the report said checking losses due to leakage of 35-50 per cent was crucial.

“Arresting distribution leakage losses by an average of 10 per cent across India will reduce the production cost of equivalent water supply by Rs 5.5 billion [Rs 550 crore],” it says.

It cites the example of Jamshedpur Utilities & Services Company India Limited, which managed to reduce its non-revenue water losses from 31 per cent to 8 per cent within a year of implementing a pilot scheme in 2008.

Mr Chaitanya Kalia, Partner - Advisory Services (Climate Change & Sustainability), E&Y said another area of focus should be waste water recycling. “One of the factors responsible for water scarcity in major Indian cities is the absence of sewage treatment capacities, which are as low as 30 per cent of the total waste water generated,” he said, and added that conservation and recycling targets should be set for users.

>aditi.n@thehindu.co.in

COMMENT NOW