Berhampur, May 6: Authorities will install water meters for the city's drinking water supply system, which caters to the daily requirements of 30 thousand domestic consumers and office complexes.

Engineers India Limited, a central government undertaking, has prepared a detailed project report for the water meter installation project, a part of Amrut Yojana, is likely to cost Rs 40 crore.

"We have floated a tender to install water meters. In the first phase, water meters will be installed in the non-domestic supplies, such as government offices and educational institutions, private companies, hostels, restaurants and various other business establishments," said executive engineer of public health engineering department Sitaram Panda. Urban planners estimate that total number of domestic water supply lines in Berhampur may cross the 40-thousand-mark by the end of this year.

"The government will also install water meters in each household in the urban areas in a phase-wise manner. It will help us check misuse of water and streamline revenue collection as well. The water meters will also help assess the amount of water used by the consumers," he said.

Water crisis in Berhampur is getting worse by the day. Berhampur requires at least 54 million litres per day (MLD) water during the summer, while it has to remain content with only 45 MLD. "Some 3.56 lakh people of the city get drinking water from two main sources, the Rushikulya Joint Water Supply Scheme and the century-old Dakhinpur impounding reservoir. The Rushikulya project supplies about 15 MLD water, while Dakhinpur impounding reservoir supplies the remaining 30MLD water," said Panda.