The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will implement 10% cut in water supply from November 15.
A senior BMC official said on Wednesday that this decision was taken after it was found that the water stock in the lakes was 15% lesser compared to the same period last year.
Uproar in BMC panel
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s standing committee meeting witnessed noisy scenes over the civic body’s decision to levy 10% water cut in the city from Thursday.
The members created a ruckus over the media being informed about the cut before them. BJP corporator Makarand Narvekar said, “What is the point of declaring it now? The BMC has been implementing an undeclared water cut in my ward. They did not admit it then, but the truth has come out now.” The meeting was adjourned owing to the death of Union Minister Ananth Kumar.
Sena leader Dilip Lande has written to the municipal commissioner asking him to conserve alternative sources of water such as wells, lakes and rivers, and allot separate funds for it. The cut will be in effect till the next monsoon and affect water supply to Thane and Bhiwandi municipal corporations. The BMC also will not be approving additional water connections as the city’s water stock has dropped compared with last year.
The Hindu had reported on the rising water woes in various parts of the city. There were protests regarding poor water supply on at least three occasions, but the administration had blamed technical issues without admitting there was a water cut being implemented.
Water stock depleting
As of November 14, the city’s total water stock stands at 10.95 lakh million litres compared with the 13.17 lakh million litres on this day last year. The city’s total water requirement is 14.47 lakh million litres.
The Hydraulic Engineers’ Department takes a review of the water stock in lakes providing water to Mumbai on October 1. This year, the stock stood at 9% below maximum limits and by November 1, this figure had dipped to 15%. The department has to make provision for water up to July 31, 2019 or another 293 days. However, the Vaitarna lake system has water stock only for another 242 days, while the Bhatsa system only has stock for another 209 days. This means, in these cases, the department would have to dip into reserves. To avoid such a situation, it has imposed the water cut.
The civic administration informed the committee only on Wednesday of its intention to impose the cut from Thursday. All establishments (residential, commercial, industrial) will face the water cut. If a society was receiving 1,000 litres of water every day, it will only get 900 litres now. In other words, supply will last for 15% less time.