No relief from water woes for 50K residents in Kharghar despite heavy rains

Despite heavy rains this week and water levels in dams increasing, there is no relief for the 50,000 residents from 60 housing societies in Navi Mumbai’s Kharghar; they have been struggling to get adequate supply of water from CIDCO for a year now

Despite heavy downpour this week and water levels in dams increasing, there is no relief for the 50,000 residents from 60 housing societies in Kharghar. They have been struggling to get an adequate supply of water from CIDCO for a year now.

There is no relief from water woes for 50K residents in Kharghar despite heavy rains. Each family spends 4,000 to 5,000 on water every month. (HT FILE PHOTO)

This includes societies from Kharghar Sectors 26 to 39. Every family spends ₹4,000- ₹5,000 extra per month on tankers and bottled water.

Recently, CIDCO claimed that it had started supplying an additional 30 MLD of water from Hetawane Dam. However, residents claim that there is no increase in supply.

Neeta Pandey, (49) a home-maker from Kharghar, said, “Most of my utensils have gone bad with stains and rust due to the poor quality water from tankers. Even though we are just three members at home, we keep having guests. The water requirement increases. The water from tankers cannot be consumed. Hence, we end up spending close to ₹3,000 every month only on drinking water.”

There are 120 housing societies in the affected sectors, of which around 60 face the problem.

“Even after CIDCO claimed to receive extra water from Hetawane Dam, we face the same problems. We complained to the CIDCO officer from the water department, following which a few officials came to investigate. The water supply was then regular for two days but from the third day, the issue continued,” Mangesh Ranawade from Kharghar Taloja Colonies Welfare Association (KTCWA) said.

Jai Daga (44), a resident of Kharghar Galaxy CHS in Sector 35F said that their society has spent around ₹17.43 lakh on tankers. While on an average around ₹2,000 is spent by each family every month on tankers, for the families who go for the bottled water due to the lack of water by CIDCO, the expenses go till ₹4,000.

“Our society needs around 110 units of water every day, which had gone down to 25 units during March. The women from our society visited the CIDCO office on June 20, demanding relief from the water shortage. The issue was solved for two days but from the third day, it continued. The tanker water is not hygienic but we are forced to used it,” Daga said.

A CIDCO officer from the water department said, “We are looking into the complaints by the people by visiting the societies and checking all the connections. We will soon sort out the issue.”