Water bills need to say more
The Hindu : worth of water when the well is dry. The new one would say, we know the worth of water when the bill arrives. If you are one of the lucky few who has a well in your house count your blessings and take steps to ensure that your well always is brimming with water. If you depend on your bore well then you have to take a look at your electricity bill to get some understanding of the price you pay for water. The poor unfortunately pay with
time and bad health for the water they access. Let us examine the people who are connected to the mainline to get a feel of the flow.
Getting a bill may not be the most pleasant thing to look forward to, be it electricity or water. But a bill can silently speak a lot more things and tell you many hidden realities. The foremost thing it teaches you is that it reaches your home only with a price, that it is an economic good and that it is costing somebody some money to get it to your house.
One would perhaps not be surprised to know that not everybody gets a monthly bill for water in India. Most cities recover water charges from property taxes or charge a flat monthly fee. Very few water providers charge on a volumetric basis, which experts agree is the best way to charge for a product. The more you consume the more you should pay.
In Bangalore city, there are over 5 lakh connections with meters. The Garden City is one of the rare few cities which has all water connections metered with a large percentage of the meters actually working! Take a long hard look at this bill which every customer connected to the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board gets, that is of course, if you are in…More
