A comprehensive civic survey in Nashik has uncovered significant gaps in water metering, revealing that approximately 16,000 water connections operate without meters and another 20,000 have non-functional or defunct devices. These findings have sparked concerns over billing inefficiencies and substantial revenue losses for the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC).
Survey Details and Findings
The survey, conducted over six months by the NMC's water supply department through a private agency, covered nearly all of the city's 2.40 lakh water connections. The agency, appointed for a three-year term, is also tasked with distributing water tax bills. According to officials, only about 74,000 meters—roughly 30% of the total—are currently functional.
An official explained, “The rest fall into categories like non-metered, defective, unreadable, inaccessible, underground, or obstructed meters, making accurate consumption tracking difficult.” Additionally, 18,578 connections could not be surveyed due to locked premises or unavailable residents at the time of inspection.
Revenue Loss and Billing Issues
The civic body currently spends about Rs 110 crore annually on water supply operations but recovers only approximately Rs 47 crore through water tax, highlighting a significant revenue gap largely caused by faulty or missing meters. The initiative aims to streamline billing, improve monitoring, and reduce non-revenue water, which stands at about 45%, with a target to bring it below 20%.
Enforcement Measures
In response, the civic administration has started issuing notices to consumers, directing them to install or repair water meters immediately. “Non-compliance could attract penalties of up to 100% of the water bill, calculated at higher rates,” another official warned. Despite over 5.5 lakh properties recorded under property tax, the city has only 2.40 lakh water connections, including around 2.10 lakh residential and the rest commercial.
Officials added, “Multiple measures are being implemented to curb losses, including meter inspections, identification of illegal connections, and replacement of aging pipelines to prevent leakages.”
