The hunt against those wasting water is going on. The board of the Central Water Authority (CWA) has already approved new stricter regulations, which are now waiting for the minister?s promulgation, to reduce waste. But the CWA director, Harry Boolauck, has made it clear that these severe sanctions target those who are ?stealing water from the CWA?. And there are ?many of them throughout the island?, he revealed.

The Central Water Authority (Drought Period) Regulations 2007 include a Rs 50,000 fine and a prison term of not more than two years. Offenders will hopefully be discouraged by such severe regulations. However, Harry Boolauck acknowledges: ?This may not be the right period to introduce such severe sanctions. We may wait until after the festive season to implement them.?

Meanwhile, the CWA intends to use other ways to discourage people from wasting water. ?We will use palliative measures to make the public save water during this period and will be more severe if the situation gets increasingly difficult,? said the director. ?However, the public must be aware that the law is there and that we have the means of taking severe action.?

Illegal use of water appears to be a common thing, according to Harry Boolauck. ?You would be surprised to know how many Mauritians do steal water by making their own connection.? Such a link is made when the CWA disconnects their water supply because there has been no payment for a long period of time. ?But then, they reconnect it themselves.? It also happens that people set up their connections before the water meter, which enables them to consume water without paying for it.

?These regulations are meant to discourage citizens from watering their gardens or washing their cars with hosepipes while they could use watering- cans. They will be valid until the end of the drought season.?

The problem is not only that these people do not pay for the water they have consumed. But it also leads to a lack of control by the CWA, as it has no way of checking the daily amount of water used.

And this is an even more serious matter, as the number of offenders keeps increasing. ?There have been some checks in some pilot areas and we have found that 400 people are using water illegally in one single village,? Harry Boolauck deplores. ?If we do not do anything, who will pay for this water? People need to know we are watching this situation very closely.?

But these regulations are also meant to discourage all citizens from watering their gardens or washing their cars with hosepipes while they could use watering cans. They will be valid until the end of the drought season to make sure there is enough water until then because reservoirs are at less than half of their capacity.

However, it will obviously be hard to make sure that people are abiding by the instructions that have been given by the authorities for more than a week. Campaigns have been launched to call upon people?s consciences and good will. But officers of the CWA and the ministry of Public utilities as well as members of the police will have a lot on their plates to watch all water users. The CWA also relies on the sense of responsibility of people who would call them if they feel there has been an abuse of water in their environment.

The most important thing is to make each person feel he can make a difference by saving some water and show civic solidarity to face this period of drought. It is more about changing mentalities than anything else. But the situation appears so serious that applying sanctions may actually be the best way of making people aware of the difficult situation that the country is in.