BWSSB Building.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: The Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) – which is responsible for providing water to the entire city – is sitting on a loan of Rs 329 crore given by the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC). It spends about Rs 16 crore to pay the interest and the principal amount.
While the BWSSB depends on multi-national lending agencies such as Japan Infrastructure Cooperation Agency (JICA) for funding large projects such as Cauvery Water Supply Scheme (CWSS) Stage 5, it took loans from domestic institutions for funding the upgradation of sewage treatment plants (STPs) to meet the treatment parameters prescribed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), according to sources.
Of the Rs 106 crore loan availed from the LIC, the BWSSB has so far paid close to Rs 99 crore to the insurance firm. Similarly, it had taken a loan of Rs 854 crore from the KUIDFC and the water board has paid around Rs 500 crore back, RTI documents show.
The BWSSB has been maintaining that it has not revised the water tariff in the last ten years, despite the increase in electricity cost, maintenance charges as well as staff salaries. The board has, however, not been able to bring down the unaccounted-for water (UfW), which could have increased its monthly revenue to meet the increased operational cost.
RTI activist Marlilinga Gowda Mali Patil said that the government should conduct an audit of the works taken up by the BWSSB through loans.
“If not done, it will set a wrong precedent with officers spending more than its expenditure during their short term. This will only push the BWSSB to bankruptcy. The present financial situation of BWSSB is in a shambles,” he said.