1k water meters stolen from areas off Bypass, Tollygunge-Jadavpur
Times of India | 19 April 2024
Kolkata: Around 1,000 water meters installed in neighbourhoods off Bypass and in the Tollygunge-Jadavpur belt have been stolen in a year. According to a Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) official, 9,500 meters had been installed in areas like Patuli, Anandapur, Kasba and areas off Bypass under the Kolkata Environment and Infrastructure Improvement Project (KEIIP) since early 2023.According to the KEIIP official, while over 600 meters have been stolen from Patuli, the remaining meters went missing from Anandapur, Kasba and some areas under Jadavpur police station.
Replying to a query from Trinamool councillor Biswarup De relating to the civic body’s plans for installation of meters to minimize wastage of potable water, mayor Firhad Hakim on Thursday flagged concern about the theft and asked senior KMC officials to keep watch to determine the water consumption pattern of households in several neighbourhoods where projects are being taken up to augment supply of potable water.
“It is true that we need to install water meters in several parts of the city. An area-wise survey has revealed that while residents in some neighbourhoods have access to excess drinking water, which results in wastage, others suffer from scarcity of water. But the frequent theft of water meters has posed a challenge to the KEIIP survey,” said Hakim. He also expressed concern over a section of residents destroying the meters since they suspect the KMC would charge for the water being supplied.
According to sources, the KEIIP has completed installation of around 9,500 meters in four KMC wards — 101, 102, 107 and 110.
A KMC official expressed concern over the rapid theft of such expensive meters, each of which costs between Rs 2,200 and Rs 3,500.
“We were in the dark about the theft till residents started complaining about it. We have lodged complaints at several police stations and requested cops to help us identify the individuals or groups involved in the theft,” said a civic official.