Nagpur: Under fire over the performance of its 24×7 drinking water supply scheme, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) is set to appoint a third-party agency to monitor operations and management (O&M). The proposed move aims to conduct a comprehensive water audit to identify hurdles in reducing Non-Revenue Water (NRW), a crucial factor for the success of the public-private partnership (PPP) model driving the project.
In 2012, when NMC tied up with Violia to initiate 24×7 drinking water distribution to households, the expectations were very high. But post 15-years of operations, the NRW remains quite high, more than 35 per cent, and on ground, there is much discontent amongst citizens. A major area of concern is from the 750MLD water that is received daily by NMC, the billing is yet to reach the optimum level, indicating gaps in the execution. Therefore, time has come to take a fresh look at the model and hence, a need for microscopic analysis is being sought.
Gold Rate
05 Aug 2025
As the PPP model of drinking water supply scheme is under lens, due to inordinate delays and non-attainment of desired goals, the civic officials have bitten the bullet. They are now seeking professional help to improve the delivery of services so that the citizens’ complaints can be addressed purposefully, explained an official. Nagpur Environmental Services Limited (NESL), a special purpose vehicle of NMC, is going for hiring of the consultant with expertise in hydraulics or specifically, water resources, for bettering water supply to 25 lakh plus population in Second Capital of the State.
At present, Orange City Works (OCW) manages drinking water supply in the city and in Hudkeshwar and Narsala, two villages that have been merged into NMC.
The move to appoint a consultant for O&M on behalf of civic officials signals its intention to have a third party supervision to overhaul the 24×7 drinking water supply scheme. The scheme is plagued by leakage, something that needs correction to ensure better returns. The target for reducing non-revenue water (NRW) is set at below 20 per cent, and for the same on ground, a critical look is needed at the operations. This holds the key to increase the per capita distribution of drinking water, which is still not balanced throughout the city.
However, one major achievement of the PPP model in drinking water supply is improvement in bill collection, though the outstanding are still quite high. After NMC-OCW began their joint operations from 2012-13, a plus point is rapid increase in metered consumers from 1.99 lakh in 2012-13 to 3.49 lakh in 2018-19. Moreover,the Revenue that was just Rs 84 crore in 2012- 13 increased to Rs 137 crore in 2018-19.
Though, over the years, the revenue has further increased, yet given the investment made by NMC into the piped distribution network, much more is needed and hence the decision to go for Consultant. The role of Consultant is to suggest ways and present working models for course correction to iron out deficiencies in the PPP model. NMC is handicapped in the absence of persons with hydraulics or dedicated knowledge of water resources to address the issue of improvement of drinking water supply and meet the targets.
