The issue of erratic water supply just ahead of Deepavali was raised in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) general assembly on Friday, with the Opposition staging a walkout. Former Congress MP Milind Deora also met municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta over the issue.
The Hindu had reported on Thursday that corporators across party lines had criticised the civic administration for its “undeclared water cut” in the city during a standing committee meeting. The Opposition claimed the BMC has imposed as much as a 40% cut. However, the administration maintained that there is no cut and the erratic supply is only due to technical issues.
NCP corporator Saida Khan took up the matter in Friday’s general assembly but since there was no officer present from the concerned Hydraulic Engineers’ department, the Opposition became furious. “This shows how serious the department is towards Mumbaikars’ issues. No officer is present for today’s meeting. People are suffering everyday now. BMC has already started a water cut. They are just not declaring it because they know they will face citizens’ wrath,” Ms. Khan said.
Leader of Opposition in the BMC Ravi Raja, from Congress, said, “Even hospitals don’t have enough water. Every day the number of complaints is increasing. If this happens during Deepavali we will be forced to protest before the Mayor’s bungalow,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Deora met Mr. Mehta over the water problem in parts of south Mumbai. “Parts of Cuffe Parade, slums in Geeta Nagar, parts of Bhendi Bazaar are all witnessing water problems. The BMC should not take this lightly,” he said.
Mr. Deora said that new pipelines should be laid wherever required. He agreed that alternatives such as constructing new dams are expensive. Therefore, the BMC should fix leakages and other supply issues. He stressed on the need for recycling water and rainwater harvesting.
Many places in the city including the western suburbs have been experiencing erratic water supply for almost a month now. Elected representatives had protested before BMC offices on three separate occasions against the issue. The civic body had blamed technical issues and repairs for the problems and gave repeated assurances that supply will be restored.
As of October 31, the seven lakes supplying water to Mumbai have 11.68 lakh million litres of water stock as compared to 13.88 lakh million litres this day last year.
Suspension
Meanwhile, the BMC has suspended 13 staffers for bunking duty, and their chief supervisor. The BMC has enforced biometric attendance for all its staffers. The 13 were found absent from duty despite logging in attendance. Their chief supervisor has also been issued a show cause notice.
For about a year now, the BMC has enforced biometric attendance system. The same is applicable to beat chowkies where conservancy workers log in their attendance before going on their ‘beat’ or area that needs to be cleaned. Every chowky has a mukadam to supervise the job.
After complaints from residents regarding cleanliness, additional municipal commissioner Vijay Singhal had ordered officers to conduct surprise inspections. When one was done in a Churchgate chowky on October 27, it was found that 66 labourers had logged in but 13 were absent and ‘A,’ ‘B,’ ‘C,’ ‘D’ and the IMC road were littered.
All 13and the mukadam, have been suspended with immediate effect while two other mukadams, junior supervisor, assistant supervisor, chief supervisor have been issued a show cause notice. The suspension is pending an inquiry. If they are found guilty in the inquiry, their increment will be stopped for a year.
