To quench summer thirst, Gurgaon will soon get water ATMs

In an effort to provide safe drinking water at public places, the Gurgaon municipal corporation will set up water ATMs in the city.

In an effort to provide safe drinking water at public places, the Gurgaon municipal corporation will set up water ATMs in the city.

Residents fill drinking water from water ATM in Gherva village near Mundaka, in New Delhi. (HT File)

The initiative will be on a public-private partnership (PPP) model and the civic body will finalise a concessionaire on Monday.

In order to get water from a water ATM unit, a user only has to slip a denomination coin into the machine and collect chilled drinking water.

An official of the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) said three companies — Akshay Jal, Pi-Lo water, Synergy Solar Inc — are shortlisted for the project. Each company is offering drinking water at a different rate.

Akshay Jal is offering 10 litres of water at Rs 1, Pi-Lo at Rs 2 for 250 ml and Synergy Solar at Rs 3 for 20 litres, in their expression of interest (EOI) documents, the official said.

“The rate at which water will be made available to consumers will be fixed after the bids are finalised. The terms of the tender have a provision for annually increasing the charges by 7%,” a senior MCG official said.

Water will be sourced by the ATM vendors from the MCG at commercial rates. As the machines run on electricity, the companies will have to pay power charges incurred separately to the discoms.

The civic body will reserve the right to penalise vendors if the ATMs are non-operational. The fine will range between Rs 2,000 and Rs 5,000 per day per ATM.

As per the tender document, each ATM should be equipped to dispense at least 250 ml water per filling and the concessionaire has to provide eco-friendly biodegradable cups at the ATM inclusive of the cost of water. No commercial advertisements will be allowed at any water ATM unit.

Water ATMs were first introduced in Bengaluru in 2014, and subsequently established in cities such as Mohali, Lucknow, Solapur and Chandigarh.

Water ATMs also provided emergency clean drinking water to thousands of people during last year’s Chennai floods.