Indian City Gets Inspiration from South Africa Model on Saving Water
Municipal Corporation (MC) Commissioner Shena Aggarwal said that the civic body would focus on water conservation in the city after attending seminars/events under the Technical Knowledge Exchange Program in South Africa lately. She added that the MC would be launching water conservation efforts in the city soon.
From May 23 to 27, a team from Punjab, led by MC Commissioner Shena Aggarwal and Superintending Engineer Ravinder Garg, visited South Africa. Aggarwal discussed how a city in South Africa recovered from drought.
South Africa, according to Aggarwal, took special precautions to conserve water. Water metres had been put in to keep track of how much water was being used. Furthermore, water tariffs in South African cities were significantly higher than those in Ludhiana.
She stated that the MC of Ludhiana would take measures to save water shortly. The city would undertake public awareness programmes urging residents to save water. Those who were seen wasting water here would be prosecuted by the municipal government.
The officials learned about the surface water delivery system in South Africa since the MC is preparing to launch its 24x7 surface water supply (through the Sidhwan canal) project, which is supported by the World Bank.
During the five-day programme, the World Bank and the South African government held sessions in Pretoria and Cape Town, South Africa, on topics such as urban management, water service delivery, municipal finance, intergovernmental fiscal transfers, and climate change.
It also looked into the water delivery systems in Mbombela and Cape Town, as well as institutional arrangements, regulation, and sport in the water sector, municipal borrowings, revenue enhancement, and property tax. They also studied South African cities' informal settlements, solid waste plants, and water pressure management systems.
Shena Aggarwal, MC Commissioner, said the local body would be installing water metres on roughly 10,000 properties on a trial basis soon to collect data on water usage.
Source: The Tribune
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