Mumbai: Parts of the city continue to face a water shortage, but the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) seems to think there is water, water everywhere. And corporators are planning to pick up their buckets in protest. For the past week, areas such as Juhu, Jogeshwari, Andheri, Cuffe Parade and Colaba have been experiencing erratic supply with low pressure, but the corporation has maintained there is no water cut in the city. On October 5, BMC officials had informed the Standing Committee during a review of water stocks that there will be no water cuts. A corporator and a member of the Legislative Assembly have threatened to protest if the situation does not improve by Monday.
The India Meteorological Department has declared the withdrawal of the monsoon in the city and the State. Up until October 6, Mumbai’s water stocks stood at 12,99,962 million litres as compared to 14,20,947 million litres at this time last year. While the city had received more-than-expected rainfall till July, it slumped in August and September, due to which water stocks dipped. However, the city has enough water to last till the next monsoon and the BMC has declared that there will be no water cut this year. The corporation had imposed a cut in 2015 owing to a rain deficit.
Since Monday, many parts of city have reported a problem in water supply. This includes Colaba, Cuffe Parade, Bhendi Bazar in South Mumbai and Juhu, Khar, Andheri, Jogeshwari in the western suburbs. By Friday, the situation was resolved in Bhendi Bazar but the other areas continued to get poor supply.
“There is a problem across Mumbai, and people are receiving water in an erratic manner. In Jogeshwari and Andheri, the problem is acute. The supply time has halved and water pressure is low,” said Shiv Sena corporator from Jogeshwari Rajul Patel.
Andheri MLA Ameet Satam is also upset at the situation. “Supply has improved marginally but is still not what it used to be. Areas such as Juhu Koliwada and JVPD are badly hit. I even spoke to the municipal commissioner in the matter, who assured me the situation will improve. If it does not by Monday, I will stage a dharna before the BMC office,” said Mr. Satam.
Colaba corporator Makarand Narvekar has also threatened to hold an ‘empty bucket’ protest. “We made repeated complaints despite which supply is erratic. The BMC has let us down. We will hold an empty-bucket protest at Azad Maidan on Monday,” said Mr. Narvekar. He will be supported by non-governmental organisation My Dream Colaba.
Those in high places were not spared either. In South Mumbai, Member of the Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde’s bungalow too received erratic supply on Thursday, and tankers had to be called in. The bungalow is maintained by the Public Works Department and receives water through BMC pipelines via a PWD tank. BMC’s hydraulic department engineers on Friday found an old valve to be the cause. The valve was replaced.
In other areas, the BMC’s engineers found similar faults. Ashok Tawadiya, the BMC’s hydraulic engineer, said, “We had undertaken repairs of the Veravali reservoir in September, which affected supply lines going from Bhandup to the western suburbs. We found air pockets in these pipelines, which prevented a continuous flow of water. We have removed all those pockets and supply will be normal by Saturday.”
