Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

National award for KWA

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Water Authority (KWA) has bagged the National Urban Water Award for 2008.

The award was handed over to C. Suresh Babu, Managing Director of the authority, and V.K. Girijavallabhan, Accounts Member, at Hyderabad recently.

The award is given by the Ministry of Urban Development, the Administrative College of India and the Confederation of Indian Industry to encourage institutions engaged in the supply of drinking water and recognise their merit.

The authority was chosen for the award from among 16 institutions in the country.

A committee chaired by Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Urban Development A.K. Mehta prepared the short list of 16 agencies from the original list of 60, a press note issued here said.

The steps taken by the authority for additional revenue generation proved to be a crucial factor in deciding the award. The authority had organised adalats at various levels over the past two years.

The revamping of the water supply and sewerage Act led to a significant reduction in water theft and the number of unauthorised connections – two factors that were proving to be a drain on the authority’s revenue.

It has also introduced a computerised complaint redressal mechanism that functions round the clock and a system whereby consumers can pay bills or get details of bills from any of its offices.

The functioning of the anti-theft squad has also been strengthened.

The authority has also put in place awareness programmes to enable its staff to provide better service to the people and a staff-consumer collective to optimise its services, the press note said.

The award is a recognition of the efforts of the management and the staff, the press note said.

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