The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) recently was under fire of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) over delays in implementation of the Water Distribution Improvement Programme (WDIP). As per WDIP, the municipal corporation was supposed to provide the city with 24x7 water supply.
The CAG slammed BMC over its slow pace at the work of the project, for which the contract was awarded in 2014. Criticising the civic body, the CAG had sent an audit report to BMC and had said that the delay in the work defeated the very purpose of the WDIP project.
In 2014, the BMC had appointed Suez Environment India Private Limited (SEIPL) to execute the 24x7 water supply project at an estimated cost of ₹276 crore. But as per the CAG report, it was seen that only 18 per cent of the work was completed by the time of the proposed project deadline of July 2019.
The WDIP scheme was introduced by BMC to ensure that Mumbaikars have access to uninterrupted 24x7 water supply. Alongside, the civic body intended to address several other aspects such as quality assurance of water, leak detection in pipes, geographical information system (GIS) mapping for existing network, asset registration, and customer relationship management.
Initially, BMC had decided that to test the 24x7 water supply scheme, they would initiate it as a pilot project in two wards (T ward in Mulund and H west ward in Bandra west).
“It was seen that there was very slow progress in the work by the service provider (SEIPL). In terms of overall monetary value, it was only 18.60%,” the CAG report stated.
A senior official from BMC hydraulics department told Hindustan Times that they have provided CAG with a 'satisfactory reply' on the issue. The official added that SEIPL has been given an extension up to July 2020.
Share
Tweet
