Costliest water from Narmada is putting financial burden on Indore

Despite an increase in financial burden on Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC), the Narmada Phase IV project is being implemented in the city.  For this, a budget of Rs 1,500 crore has been allocated, which will supply the city's water demands through 2035. 

A master plan for water was created for Indore in the 1970s based on anticipated population expansion because these water bodies could not accommodate Indore's expanding needs. Following this design, the Narmada water supply system as Phase I was established in 1977.

The Narmada River, which supplies 440 MLD of water to the city, is its main source of water. Another 60 MLD of groundwater comes from over 350 public bore wells, while 38 MLD comes from other sources, including Yashwant Sagar and Bilawali. 

Its waterworks are located in Jalud on the riverbank, 70 km south of the city and 500 meters above sea level. Additionally, another older, far smaller water supply system—from the Yashwant Sagar dam on the Gambhir River—is located 26 km northwest of the city. 

What is the cost?

“The cost of water supply per kilolitre is one of the highest in the country at 21 rupees. There is a huge shortfall in cost recovery, almost 74.7 percent,” informed Indore-based Dr. Rahul Banarjee, an urban water expert. 

On analysing the costs and revenue of the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC), he found that from Rs 110 crores in 2011, the annual financial burden of bringing Narmada water to the district had increased to Rs 180 crores in 2014. This has increased to 341 crores in 2024, according to his analysis.

The  IMC’s budget for 2024–2025 is suggested to have increased water cess. It increases the burden on people, with a 50% increase in the water cess bringing the monthly fee from ₹200 to ₹300. 

Earlier, in April 2021, to address the massive deficiency in cost collection, the IMC declared that water fees and a new sewage charge would be implemented. The public, however, objected to the hike, and the opposition MPs and the ruling party put pressure on the IMC to back down from the planned hike.

Why is it expensive?

At Rs 176.62 crores, or 86.6 per cent of the entire cost of processing and pumping the water up to Indore, power is the main cost factor for the Narmada water supply. For this electricity, the Madhya Pradesh Paschim Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company Ltd. (MPPKVVCL), which provides the IMC with electricity, is permanently in arrears with the IMC. 

To ease this electricity burden, the city will be installing a solar park of 60W in Jalud, but the work is yet to be completed. However, Chinmay Mishra, a water expert, is suspicious of its effectiveness, considering an instance of solar panels that were damaged in a flooding solar plant in Omkareshwar. He said,

“Solar plants also involve a cost to maintain. Do IMC have the money for that?”

According to a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report as of 2018, the IMC recovered only 35% of the water charges. Even though the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) has not been able to recover money from the early phases of this costly project, in April 2022 the IMC set aside 25% of its total budget to begin Phase 4 of the Narmada project. 

Mishra shares an interesting old fictional story with us on the situation of Indore’s costliest water. The story is about a king stuck in a desert with no water around. He encounters a priest who asks him, “What will you give me in exchange for water?” The king says I will give you my jewellery. The priest looks unsatisfied. The king then agrees to give his entire kingdom and says, “Just give me water and take everything.”

Through the story, he tries to explain that the water is priceless, and therefore, the determining cost has to be considered on the parameters of affordability in a welfare state. He added,

“Who will pay the cost of damage by contaminated water that the people of Indore receive? And is Indore really a water-plus city? I doubt it.”

Suspicions on Indore’s Water Plus Certification

Indore was the first city to be declared a water plus under Swachh Sarvekshan 2021. The Water+ certification process assesses, among other things, that all used water (sewage and faecal sludge) is securely contained, transported, and treated, with the greatest amount of treated used water being reused, and that neither untreated nor faecal sludge is discharged into the environment or water bodies. 

However, Banerjee disagrees with the status and claims that it was only possible because all STPs operated at full capacity for two weeks before and during the Swachh Sarvekshan team's visit. 

“After the review was completed and the team departed, Indore's water level dropped since the STPs were switched back to the bypass mode,” he told Ground Report.  

The total installed capacity of STPs in Indore is 402 MLD, which can easily treat the 320 MLD of wastewater that is generated in the city. 

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) said in a report that there is a big gap between the used water generation and treatment, with installed STP capacity in the country being only 44% of the estimated sewage generation in 2021.

 “STPs are not functional regularly due to the cost factor. In my several field visits, I encountered that they remain shut,” Banerjee added.

Banerjee’s analysis for the 2019–20 fiscal year, shows that the IMC actually allocated Rs 117.11 crores for sewage treatment and sewerage. However, the actual spending, which in this case amounts to just 22.7% of the budget forecasts at Rs 26.58 crores, falls well short of the estimates.

District Environment Plan

The plan highlights the focus on cleaning the most polluted Kahn River and rejuvenation of groundwater in the city to increase the sources of water locally.  It notes that there are a total of five rivers flowing to a length of 348 km, sixty lakes and ponds spread over 2767.37 hectares, and 151939-estimated numbers of borewells are available as a source of water. Giving significance to the two Ramsar sites of the city, namely, Sirpur and Yashwant Sagar, the plan does not talk about any management plan to conserve them.

Ground Report has earlier reported on the lack of conservation efforts on both the above sites. 

In other efforts, the city is gradually working to revive historic lakes or talabs. However, Mishra feels there is still a lack of planning and genuine efforts to find alternate water sources.

“There should be a master plan on the framework of water supply for the next ten years for the city; then only the reliance on Narmada can be reduced,” he said.

Leakages: An additional cost

There have been several reports of water leakages in the water pipelines in the city. According to a CAG report, the IMC found over 2600 cases of leakages. between 2013 and 2018, costing the IMC no less than ₹15 crores to repair. Even after this, there have been several reports of water leakages in Indore.

As per the report, the leakages and illegal connections together contribute to around 65 per cent of the total water that the IMC receives from the Narmada.

Earlier in February, IMC also launched a scheme to legalize illegal water connections. Under this, to legalize unauthorized tap water connections, IMC charges Rs 6,000 per connection; in underdeveloped areas, the fee is Rs 2,500 per connection.

Focus on Narmada Phase IV

Phase IV of the Narmada Project would be completed in the next three years, thus increasing the water supply to 900 MLD.

It plans to double the Dev Dharam Tekri capacity. A new irrigation line from Narmada to Sanwer would be laid in the next five years.

Sanjeev Srivastava, Executive Engineer in the water supply branch, IMC informed Ground Report,

"A 400 MLD water treatment plant (WTP) would be set up near Devguradia to supply water to the city. Additionally, the Jalud water treatment plant's capacity would be raised from 900 MLD to 1,650 MLD. Soon, a bid for work on capacity improvement that would cost Rs 1,145 crore would be released."

He also said that the Narmada Phase IV will include the township under IMC, including the areas with borewells. Indore’s distribution line would also be changed and a 600-km-long network of lines would be laid across the city. Old house connections too would be changed. Groundwater recharge is already underway with the Vande Jalam Yojana. Campaign goals included revitalizing existing water bodies and building new ponds. Additionally, the encroachment on waterways and water bodies would be eliminated.

“The Phase IV plan is again an effort to fetch water to the city which will only grow financial burden and dependence on Narmada,” added Mishra.

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