Mumbai: Kharghar residents are up in arms over the poor water supply situation prevailing over the past several months, saying low water pressure and a minimum two days of water cuts every month has made life difficult. Housing societies have now come together under the Citizen Forum umbrella and have approached the City and Industrial Development Corporation CIDCO) water department.
Kharghar, with a population of two lakh, gets its water from the Hitwane dam. Government officials said the dam’s catchment area received good rainfall and water level is high. Mohan Ninawe, Chief PRO, CIDCO, said, “The rains were good this season and there is no shortage of water. There were water cuts for two days on February 3 and 4, followed by low pressure on February 5 as the pipelines were being changed. Water supply has been as usual since then. I will look into the complaints and talk to the officials concerned.”
Arun More, a resident of Sector-4, said he was very unhappy with the way CIDCO is handling the water issue in Kharghar. “There are frequent water cuts in Kharghar, despite repeated follow-ups with CIDCO officials. This is not acceptable.”
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Balasaheb Bhojane from Sector 10 added, “There are 84 societies in Sector 10. It becomes difficult for societies to keep buying water from the tankers. It costs a lot and is difficult to meet from society funds. Also, the tanker water is of poor quality.”
Bhawana Gupta, who runs a pre-school in Sector 12, said her area gets water every alternate day. “On the day when there is supply, we get water for only five to six hours at low pressure. Secondly, despite good rains this year, we are facing cuts since July 2016. It becomes difficult to run a centre with kids, and summer is yet to come.”
Viren Arte, a resident of Tharwani Heritage CHS in Sector 7, said, “Our society has 176 flats, 37 shops and a swimming pool. Our requirement is about 1.4 lakh litres for residents alone, but we get around one lakh litres. The shops and commercial establishments get only 500 litres a day, forcing us to call for tankers. We are using tanker water for the swimming pool as well.”
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Pallav Gupta, secretary, Shah heights CHS in Sector 7, said, “Tankers take advantage of the water cuts by charging exorbitantly. It clearly shows a nexus between authorities & the tanker mafia. To make a quick buck, the tanker mafia stoops to taking water from the gutter. This can pose a serious health concern.”
Rajesh Hatwal, Assistant Engineer, Water Supply 1 Department, CIDCO, said, “Pipelines are being changed along the 120-km stretch between Hetwane dam and Kharghar. The actual work is for just a week, but as we cannot stop water supply for such a long period. we are doing it in a phased manner. Secondly, before commencing each part of the work, we need to seek approval which leads to delays. Nevertheless, only around 20 km of pipeline work is left. Once completed, the water problems will be solved.”