Will BMC lift 15% water cut after April 30?
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is unlikely to lift the 15% water cuts in Mumbai on 30 April as planned due to repairs to a major water supply tunnel. A source said the repairs would be completed by the end of April, but it would take a week for pressure to stabilise and a month to regularise supply. The tunnel was damaged when a developer allegedly dug a borewell.
Strap: Deadline likely to be extended, as it will take a month for supply to be regularised after repairs, say officials
Mumbai: Mumbaikars must brace themselves for a protracted spell of water woes this summer, as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is unlikely to keep its promise of lifting the 15% cuts on April 30.
“It’s all a big mess right now,” said a senior civic official. He was referring to the complex nature of ongoing repairs in a major water supply tunnel (which was damaged when a Thane-based developer allegedly dug a borewell) and the BMC working hard to meet its promised deadline.
The civic body supplies 3950 MLD water to Mumbai from its various sources from Vaitarna and Bhatsa basin, in Thane.
A highly placed source said: “We have been told that repairs on the tunnel will be completed by April 30. But, it will take another week from then for the pressure to stabilise, and over a month to regularise the supply.”
He added that after the water tunnel burst in Thane, the supply was diverted to the old defunct line, which would be diverted into the original system after the repairs are completed. “This process will take time. We also learnt that the Bhandup treatment plant didn’t get water for two to three days.”
Repairing the punctured tunnel involves a series of complex activities – from isolation, dewatering, lighting, ventilation, to appointing a contractual agency for the repairs and making alternate water conveyance facility to provide uninterrupted supply to the city.
Once the supply from the tunnel was transferred to the existing conventional system, repairs for the damaged tunnel were taken up by the chief engineer of the water supply department.
Unpromising lake view
Meanwhile, lake level recorded at 6am on Wednesday, was 468040 ml, which is 32.34% of 1447363 ml. Last year at this time there was 501579 ml, which is 34.65%, of the total 1447363 ml. Mumbai receives supply from various lakes and dams such as Upper Vaitarna, Modak Sagar, Tansa, Middle Vaitarna, Bhatsa, Vihar and Tulsi.
A civic official from the hydraulic department, however, assured that the April 30 deadline will be honoured and the supply restored from May 1. “There is no problem with lake levels either. Our needs will be met till the time monsoon arrives,” he said.
Citizens protest
On Wednesday, a delegation of residents from K-East ward met assistant commissioner Manish Valanju, accompanied by MLA Ravindra Waikar, to discuss the crisis in the Andheri East-Jogeshwari belt. According to them, the Tansa pipeline had burst twice last week in Powai, which exacerbated the scarcity. The existing 15% cut has scaled up to 50% in this ward.
Gilroy Misquitta, from the Mulgaon Adivasi Rahivasi society, residing in Marol MIDC, said: “Eight hundred families are affected and the situation has worsened in the last 15 days. We received good supply in the past. It has reduced to only 20-30% now. Tanker water is both unaffordable ( ₹3500) and unavailable.”
An official from hydraulic department in D-Ward ward said tankers were requisitioned for residents of Tardeo Road and Narayan Dabholkar Road. “Wherever there was an issue with supply – particularly in hilly areas – tankers were sent. Every ward has two tankers and in our ward we take six rounds in a day,” he said.