Water theft costs Govt Rs 2.7 b annually

Parliament Corrs

Chief Government Whip, Water Supply and Drainage Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told Parliament yesterday that illegal water tapping causes a Rs 2.7 billion revenue loss to the National Water Supply and Drainage Board every year.

The Minister participating in the Third Reading stage of the budget debate on his Ministry said that some illegal consumers have even tapped several major supply lines.

These tappers have been identified during recent raids.

However, the existing laws and punishment including the amount of fines were not acting as a deferent to prevent these consumers from resuming their illegal tapping activities again, he said.

The Minister said that his Ministry plans to bring in new laws to stop this loss of revenue. The Ministry plans to introduce tougher laws in the line of the Ceylon Electricity Board to discourage people obtaining water without proper connections.

Nearly 51 percent of the water supplied to Colombo and its suburbs by the board was non-revenue water due to waste, the Minister said.