Deficit hits Assam Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Board

GUWAHATI: The Assam Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Board (AUWSSB) has been running in deficit for years and on with 27 of its 36 commissioned schemes being functional and 16 schemes still in the pipeline. Twenty-four other schemes are at the augmentation stage.

According to the Board, the major challenge it has been facing is due to insufficient consumer base. The water tariff collected from the consumers is the only source of revenue that has to be spent for meeting all expenditures like salaries of work charged/fixed pay employees, power bill, regular chemical consumption, operation and maintenance costs, the administrative cost etc. In the past six months, the average monthly revenue earned by the Board was Rs 60 lakh against an expenditure of Rs 110 lakh.

Addressing the media here on Friday, AUWSSB chairman Dr. Numol Momin said, "The board has been running in deficits for years. The revenue collection of the Board in fiscal 2018-19 was Rs 705.11 lakh against an expenditure of Rs 1216.26 lakh. The excess expenditure in that fiscal was Rs 511.15 lakh. In fiscal 2019-20, the revenue collection was Rs 660.60 lakh against an expenditure of Rs 768.07 lakh, the excess expenditure being Rs 107.46 lakh. Since my taking charge of the Board in 2018, the gap between revenue collection and expenditure has narrowed. Since then the board has also picked up pace."

Dr. further Momin said, "Many schemes of the Board, even those started in 2008-09, have not been completed as yet. The works of all such schemes have been started afresh, besides new ones. Works of as many as seven NLCPR (Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources) old water supply schemes in as many towns have been started afresh. The schemes are in Sivasagar, Dhubri, Mangaldai, Margherita, Bongaigaon, Sarupather and Kharupetia. Six other new schemes are set to be commissioned in June this year. They are at Mirza, Sonari, Bilasipara, Mangaldai, Makum and Margherita. While the construction works of three other water supply schemes under AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) costing over Rs 700 crore are set to be started soon in Nagaon, Dibrugarh and Silchar, an NESID (North East Special Infrastructure Development) scheme under the Ministry of DoNER is going to be started soon in Digboi.

"Apart from these, there are some concept proposals for sewerage treatment plants in Jorhat, Sivasagar and Tezpur costing around Rs 715 crore. Ten other water supply schemes at as many towns in the State with an expenditure of Rs 691 crore have also been proposed.

"At present we've been supplying water to 20,200 households at the fixed rate of Rs 300 per month. Now we're giving free of cost new connections as such connections will increase revenue collection. Of the 371 employees under the Board, 241 work charged and 17 fixed pay employees haven't got their salaries for the past five months. We're going to clear their salaries in two months. Of late, the State government has sanctioned Rs 726 lakh to the Board in fiscal 2019-20 as a one-time grant to meet the liabilities."

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