In its initiative to reduce water theft and augment revenue, the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) has decided to install advanced automated digital water meters to bulk consumers in a phased manner.
As a first step in this regard, such meters would be installed at six industrial units, said Mayor Mahabala Marla.
Addressing presspersons here on Tuesday, Mr. Marla, whose tenure as Mayor would end on Thursday, said the corporation had purchased six meters at around Rs. 55,000 a piece.
After studying its usefulness, the meters would be installed at large water consumption units such as hotels, lodges and apartments. An engineer at the water supply division at the civic body told The Hindu that each such meter had a modem and an antenna.
Once fixing it, the control centre received the signals and recorded the quantity of water used, using a software. If there was any attempt to replace the meter or tamper it, it could be monitored at the control centre, he claimed.
The Mayor said the six industrial units where the meters would be installed are UB Group, Scientific Solutions Private Limited, Ruchi Soya, Baby Marine Food Private Ltd., Rajashree Packers and Strydes. The units had been chosen based on their average monthly water consumption in the past. They could be installed any time from now.
He said that it would help the civic body to know if it was getting revenue on par with the actual water consumed by consumers.
Mr. Marla said that after the assessment of its efficiency, the corporation was considering making it mandatory for new apartments and other bulk consumers to install these meters at their own cost. But it required amendments to the related by-laws, which would be made in time, he said. The Mayor did not clarify whether the existing bulk consumers would be asked to replace the old meters at their own cost or the MCC would bear the cost.
Property tax
The Mayor said that his successors would ensure that the civic body introduced filing and payment of property tax online. He said the MCC would open electronically operated toilets at Nanthoor, Mallikatta and Hampankatta and two more yet-to-be-identified places. He also said the malaria management software was ready.
