Urgent financial support needed to continue free water supply to BPL consumers, KWA tells State government

Kerala Water Authority seeks government support for free water supply to BPL families amid financial strain.

The Kerala Water Authority (KWA) has sought “urgent” State government support for continuing water supply free of charge to below poverty line (BPL) families with a monthly consumption of up to 15,000 litres, citing a surge in applications triggered by the roll-out of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in rural Kerala.

Explaining that it is not in a position to continue the concession, the cash-strapped KWA has requested the government for funds to cover the expense or the timely release of non-plan grants.

In a September 3 letter to the Principal Secretary (Water Resources), KWA joint managing director Binu Francis noted that more than 10 lakh people have applied for the BPL concession in 2024. To meet this demand, KWA would need to spend ₹10 crore to ₹12 crore on a monthly basis, the letter said.

KWA supplies water free of charge to BPL consumers with monthly consumption up to 15,000 litres. According to the utility’s administrative report for the 2022-23 fiscal, it supplied 15,000 litres of drinking water per month free of cost to about 5.91 lakh BPL families.

JJM is a national-level initiative for providing functional household tap connections (FHTC) in all rural households. Rural water supply connections in Kerala rose from 16.64 lakh in August 2019 to 38.03 lakh after the State launched JJM in 2019-20. This increase also includes BPL consumers, according to the KWA.

This is not the first time that the KWA has requested non-plan grants to cover the expense. It had drawn the Water Resources department’s attention to the matter in November 2023 and July 2024. In the November 2023 letter, the KWA had pointed out that it was struggling to meet the commitment to BPL consumers despite a one paise per litre increase in water charges in February 2023.

In July, the KWA informed the government that it was yet to receive ₹460.61 crore towards the non-plan grant for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 fiscals. Drawing attention to its wobbly financial situation, the KWA had observed that the BPL subsidy would push it into further crisis.