EIGHT thousand water meters will be installed free of charge in Pyigyitagun township with a total of US$20 million funding from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), according to Mandalay City Development Committee (MCDC).
The committee will also increase the water charges in the region significantly.
JICA’s $20 million has been used for the purchase of pipes, wells, tanks, pumps and water meters.
It can cost K50,000 for a water meter and there could be additional expenses, depending on the location and length of the pipes required.
As an example, the authorities will dig three wells in Tampawati ward and water will be distributed from the tank which can hold up to 650,000 gallons of water.
It will use French Development Agency’s (AFD’s) loan of $40 million, ADB’s aid of $4 million, the EU’s aid of 8 million euro and AFD’s aid of 1 million euro to cover 90pc of the households in four townships.
It will also use the AFD’s 1.5 million euro aid for water distribution in Amarapura township and JICA’s $20 million aid to provide water access to 30pc in Pyigyitagun township.
The water distribution programme aims to provide access to potable water for 90pc of the population (more than 800,000 people) in four townships in Mandalay Region.
New rates of the water bills are charged once every three months.
The current rate of K1,500 has been increased to K4,000 for the smallest 0.5-inch pipe; the rate for the biggest 8-inch pipe is up from K50,000 to K70, 000.