Talks fail, infra projects in city to be hit as tankers keep away

Mumbai: Several infrastructure projects in the city are likely to be impacted if the strike called by the Water Tanker Association of Mumbai (WTAM), on February 8, is not resolved soon

Mumbai: Several infrastructure projects in the city are likely to be impacted if the strike called by the Water Tanker Association of Mumbai (WTAM), on February 8, is not resolved soon. The association is demanding changes in the guidelines issued by the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA).

Mumbai, India - February 13, 2023: Members of Water Tankers Association during a press conference, at Ghatkopar, in Mumbai, India, on Monday, February 13, 2023. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times) (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

An official from the BMC’s Coastal Road department said that with tankers not supplying water, construction and concretisation work has been impacted and had to be stopped at a few places. The official also said the strike, as of now, will not affect their deadline, but it is likely to impact the project, if the issue is not resolved soon.

Following the strike, Mumbai’s guardian minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha conducted a meeting with the officials of the district and the civic body. The meeting was attended by Sanjeev Kumar, additional municipal commissioner, Rajeev Niwatkar, district collector of city and Nidhi Chaudhari, district collector of suburban.

Lodha spoke to the association members, who refused to end their strike. “I will be conducting a meeting with the association, district and civic body officials (today) and I am hopeful, that we will be able to end the strike.” said Lodha.

The WTAM stopped supplying water to the entire city following the implementation of the Central Ground Water Authority (CBWA) notification. Although the notice is dated September 24, 2020, it is being implemented now in the city by the district collectors and the state water supply and sanitation department. Tanker owners, not following the guidelines, will be booked under stringent codes of IPC, as per the directive issued by Vivek Phansalkar, Mumbai police commissioner on February 3.

The association has said that some of the new guidelines are not feasible in Mumbai and are making it impossible for them to operate. Rajesh Thakur, secretary of the association, said, “Mumbai Police has given a directive to all police stations asking to book water tankers under strict IPCs, if these guidelines are not followed. However, it is impossible to follow some of the guidelines. In a congested city like Mumbai, it is not possible to get 2,000 square feet of area around the well or the site of water abstraction”. (See box)

“Mumbai is a city that falls in the safe zone of ground water extractions, yet such stringent rules are being implemented here.” he added.

The association has also demanded that CGWA portal needs to be improved and the “harassment”, while getting NOC from various departments, has to be stopped.

Sanjeev Jaiswal, principal secretary of Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Government of Maharashtra, said, “The guidelines are given from the centre, so the state cannot decide what can and cannot be changed. The guidelines are for the whole country and not limited to one state or a city. We are just implementing it.”

An official from CGWA, said, “There was enough time given to everybody to implement these guidelines. Mumbai does not have ground water issue but has space issues. In other parts of the country, there is no space issue but there is ground water issue. Hence, the guidelines have to be tight to avoid any default.

“If there is an area specific issue, then the association can meet the chairman of CGWB or the ministry of Jal shakti. Every state was advised to follow these guidelines or implement their own guidelines based on the centre’s directives. The state can also bring in their own guidelines, which will have to be notified by the state assembly.” he added.

The association has said that if the strike continues, then various infrastructure projects will be affected. S V R Srinivas, MMRDA commissioner, said that so far there has been no impact on the projects. The MMRDA has been involved in constructing Metro and other infrastructure projects.

Brihanmumbai municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said, “BMC cannot do much about this since the issue pertains to state and centre. It should get resolved soon.”

Pradeep Shetty, president of Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI), said, “If the strike goes beyond a week, then the hotels will have to go into severe water conservation mode.”

The girls’ hostel at the University of Mumbai’s Kalina campus is also affected by the water tanker strike. The hostel, inaugurated in July 2022, still does not have water supply and is dependent on the water from tankers. There are already restrictions on water usage in hostels. One of the students, living in the hostel, said “since last week there is no water supply, we have to go to another building in the campus to fetch water”. A senior senate member Pradeep Sawant has made a BMC tanker available to the hostel.

Certain residential areas like Royal Palms in Goregaon east, which is totally dependent on water tankers, have been forced to rely on packaged drinking water or to move out to their relatives or friend’s place.

[Additional inputs from Niraj Pandit, Saurabh Kulshreshtha]