Kerala's Government May Shut Off The State's Water Supply

Street water taps might soon disappear from Kerala. The cost of maintaining the public faucets is starting to significantly impact the ability of the cash-strapped municipal governments to pay their water bills. The government intends to shut down these public water delivery stations as water rates are due to increase. They have begun to consider eliminating public taps due to the expansion of household water connections.

The Kerala Water Authority (KWA) reports that there are around 1,62,556 operational public taps in the state. 1,20,422, 25,632, and 16,502 of these are under the jurisdiction of panchayats, municipalities, and city corporations, respectively. According to information obtained, local authorities owe the KWA around '955 crore in unpaid fees for accessing public water faucets.

Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine stated that the department would examine the circumstances in the assembly and make a determination regarding the future of public taps. According to Roshy, a substantial number of street water taps will be rendered redundant as a result of the Jal Jeevan Mission initiative's distribution of domestic water connections. They will assess how people are using the public water faucets and take the appropriate actions to shut down their business. He claimed that due to the significant discrepancy between the cost of production and the tariffs received, the water authority is incurring enormous losses.

A KWA representative claims that the majority of the local governments have not paid their water bills in the last 10 years. The representative stated that the Kochi corporation owes us approximately Rs 80 crore in debt, whereas the Thiruvananthapuram corporation owes us roughly Rs 40 crore. There are approximately 3,000 public water taps in Thiruvananthapuram. The cost of water has increased fourfold, and the civic body cannot afford it. The corporation will be required to pay roughly Rs 2,000 per tap under the new prices. Since more homes are getting water connections, we'll shortly turn off any unused public faucets.