Despite court's order, not every area has water across Mumbai

While on one hand the financial capital of India is dreaming about 24 hours of water supply, on the other, most areas in the city are still facing the problem of uneven or little water supply. Even residents of illegal slums are struggling with various odds to get a water pipeline in their settlements.

According to the norms of the Central Public Health and Environment Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO), the BMC is supplying 135 litres of water per person per day in buildings and 45 litres of water per person per day in slums. But, even senior officials of BMC admit that it is not the reality.

BMC can not supply water to every part of the city because of technical problems and not due to inadequate water in the lakes. Currently, a south Mumbai resident is getting only 90 litres daily whereas a suburban resident is receiving 140 liters per day. Since water pipelines in south Mumbai date back to the British era, leakages are the main problem. Even the water pressure can not be raised beyond a point. 

"Western and eastern suburbs have many hilly areas. We built many water tanks to supply water in these parts, but still there is a demand of more water," said BMC official.

There is a problem with the water supply in illegal slums. Despite Bombay High Court's 2014 order, BMC isn't ready to supply water to slums. On the basis of several Supreme Court judgments, the HC re-stated the intrinsic relationship between the right to water and life, as "the right to life guaranteed by the Article 21 is not of animal existence, but it is a right to live with human dignity". People in illegal slums have still not received any water connection.

"We had to apply online. Even there, there was a lobby of licensed plumbers. We had to hence form a 'Water for Humanity' forum, under which we are solving such problems and have submitted forms for around 3,000 families," said Sitaram Shelar from Pani Hakk Samitee. "There are issues with land too. 

Slums on forest land, salt pan, and railway areas need permission from the central government. Some land permissions are pending with the collector and BMC is yet to make a decision over the private lands," he added.