Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Drinking water supply in more than 800 authorised colonies in Bhopal is set to undergo a major change, with the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) planning to rope in private agencies to provide water connections to individual households. Under the proposed arrangement, the BMC will supply water in bulk, while private agencies will manage distribution, maintenance and collection of charges from residents.
Approved by the Mayor-in-Council (MiC), the proposed system will operate through a tripartite agreement between the BMC, a private agency and the colony. While the corporation will supply treated water sourced from the Narmada River and Kolar Dam, private agencies will manage its delivery to individual homes and charge residents for their services.
According to BMC s water work department, this move came after the MP government rejected the corporation s proposal of Rs 1300 crore to provide individual connections from the bulk line which was passed in the council s budget meeting held in March 2026. A similar proposal was passed in BMC s budget council meeting in 2019 of worth Rs 500 crore but that was also rejected by the state government.
Private agencies to add service charges
Under the proposed model, the BMC will charge private agencies Rs 17 per 1,000 litres of bulk water. The agencies will add expenses for electricity, labour, maintenance and other operational costs, along with their profit. Consequently, the estimated cost to individual households could reach Rs 22 per 1,000 litres.
The agencies will collect water charges from residents, operate motors to fill sump tanks, maintain the internal supply network and distribute water throughout the colonies. The BMC, meanwhile, will collect monthly bulk water charges from the agencies instead of dealing directly with individual households. The corporation will hold discussions with residents' associations to finalise the implementation plan.
The proposed system is expected to simplify water distribution and maintenance, particularly in covered-campus colonies. But it will also shift the management of household-level water distribution to private operators, while the BMC will continue to supply water in bulk and collect payments from the agencies.
Only RERA-approved colonies to get agencies
Bhopal has approximately 1,600 authorised colonies approved by the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) and the Town and Country Planning (T&CP) department. Of these, 829 already have bulk water connections, although many households lack individual connections. The remaining 771 colonies do not have a dedicated water source and depend on tube wells, local supplies and private borewells.
BMC's Water Works department officials said that providing individual household connections across these 771 colonies would require a large amount. Under the new arrangement, these colonies will initially receive bulk connections, with the colonies categorised according to their size: up to 100 houses, 101-250 houses and more than 250 houses.
BMC begins identifying private agencies
BMC superintendent engineer Udit Garg told Free Press that the system would be implemented through a tripartite agreement. The corporation has begun identifying agencies, with one Bhopal-based agency having expressed interest so far.
