Govt’s new O&M policy plugs leaks in water supply
Based on the instruction from the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, the TN Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department developed the O&M policy, which was approved at the 13th state-level scheme sanctioning committee meeting.
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CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government’s Operation and Maintenance (O&M) policy of water supply schemes has emphasised that sand mining within a 500-metre radius around the head works at the river bed location of Single Village Scheme (SVS) and Combined Water Supply Scheme (CWSS) will be strictly prohibited.
Based on the instruction from the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, the TN Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department developed the O&M policy, which was approved at the 13th state-level scheme sanctioning committee meeting.
According to the O&M policy, “the sand-removed portion near the infiltration wells/collector wells should be filled up with sand and proper anchoring arrangements made in connecting main and electric cables.”
“Pumpsets and other electromechanical items should be lifted to avoid submergence of equipment in water. During drought, flow diversion in rivers, flushing of bore wells and radial arms of collector wells, cleaning of the surface of porous media in infiltration wells, deepening of open wells, shall be done to augment required water from the existing head works,” it said.
The policy also emphasised that the village panchayat shall provide functional household tap connection (FHTC) to all households and a deposit of Rs 1,000 and a monthly user fee will be collected.
“In case of less yield in the water source of a CWSS/SVS, the drinking water needs of the people will have the highest priority among competing uses of water. Whenever there is reduced yield in the sources/head works of an SVS/CWSS, priority of water supply share shall be given to the public drinking water. The rest of the quantity shall be spared with the industrial/commercial/institutional beneficiaries,” it noted.
The State government's Operation and Maintenance policy of water supply schemes further states that leak detection surveys should be undertaken, particularly in case of the bursting of pipes and leaky joints when the difference in the quantity of water produced and water supplied is more than 15 per cent (loss of water due to leakage).
"All dilapidated overhead tanks/structures shall be dismantled immediately to avoid accidents and new structures shall be constructed without affecting the regular water supply," the policy detailed. Further, the policy also involved concepts like maintenance of water supply, payment of energy cost, operation and maintenance of policy gap funding etc.
The policy said bulk water meters shall be installed at appropriate locations to measure water supplied to beneficiaries, water charges collection and to assess the non-revenue water, adding that a centralised monitoring system shall be established using the Internet of Things (IoT) for monitoring the water supply effectively.