Posh Ghatkopar society spends lakhs on tankers as daily water supply dips to 15%

Residents of Promenade Cooperative Housing Society in Mumbai have paid ₹10 lakh for water tankers since April 1, and ₹8.5 lakh in March, while suffering a 15% water cut. Members claim the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has supplied only 55% of their sanctioned quota for the past two years and that the low water pressure and supply is due to the building's internal pipeline, which does not comply with regulations. The building is located around 700-800 metres from the BMC's main pipeline. The society has spent ₹68 lakh on water in the last financial year.

MUMBAI: About 507 families residing in a posh housing society in Ghatkopar have shelled out ₹10 lakh for water tankers since April 1, and there are still nine days left in this month. If it sounds astounding, then look at their March’s expenses that stand at ₹8.5 lakh. And then there was no water cut enforced by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Mumbai, India - Feb. 13, 2020: A 507-household Promenade Co-Operative Housing Society in Ghatkopar says that they have paid ₹10 lakh for water tankers since the last 20 days. Even when the other parts of the city are not facing any water issues, their usual water tanker bills are to the tune of ₹4 lakh per month. They say that BMC only supplies them 50-55% of the water supply in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, February 13, 2020. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

Residents claim that the BMC has, for the last two years, been supplying only 55% of the building’s sanctioned quota and the current 15% cut has reduced the overall percentage of supply to 15. As a result, the society management had to spend ₹38.2 lakh to buy water in 2021-22, while the amount nearly doubled to ₹68 lakh in the last financial year.

Promenade Cooperative Housing Society with four 22-storey towers is part of a cluster of high-rises, known as ‘The Address’, situated at Lal Bahadur Shastri Road opposite R City Mall. Members, who received occupancy certificates in 2018, said their water woes are more permanent than what most of the city has been facing lately, and repeated complaints to the BMC’s N ward office have not yielded any results.

Mehta said it is a traumatic experience for several senior citizens who live by themselves, mothers of very young children and working couples to manage with the little water the management arranges for every household daily.

Based on the number of flats, the BMC had fixed 343 kilolitres as the quantity of water to be supplied per day. But what the residents get is less than 180 kilolitres and now, with the water cut in place, the daily supply has come down to 45-55 kilolitres.

The problem doesn’t end here. Though the supply hours are supposed to be from 7.30 pm to 10.30 pm, water is actually available only for a couple of hours, Bhargav Dani said. “Moreover, the pressure is so low that it is just not possible to collect sufficient water for an average family of four or five members.”

Senior citizen Mridula Nambiar said the families, too, spend on buying jars of water every week. “If things continue this way, we are looking at a very dire summer this year.”

Another resident Preeti Goswami said being in a premier project, they pay much higher property and other taxes than other buildings. “In return, we do expect certain amenities.”

Assistant engineer for N Ward, Mahesh Pawar, admitted that the issue had been brought to their notice on several occasions but blamed the building’s internal water connection, and location.

“The problem is the internal water pipeline of the complex has not been laid out in accordance with the building plan submitted to us. The pipeline zigzags a lot, and we have suggested the residents straighten it,” he said.

The low water pressure, he said, is because the building is located around 700-800 metres from the BMC’s main water pipeline.

Pawar said his department has suggested a few short-term and long-term solutions to the residents. “We have even told them that increasing the size and shape of the connecting pipeline would drastically improve their water supply.”

While the civic officials insist on correcting the course of the pipeline, the residents are worried that an additional cost is unfairly falling on their shoulders. “We are not the ones who laid out the pipelines or decided to stray from the approved building plan. The builders or the BMC must take responsibility for the discrepancies,” Kaushal Shah said.

A spokesperson from the developer, Wadhwa Group, said, “We delivered the project in 2018, and for the last five years, the water supply has been normal to all the towers. We have not received any such intimation or complaint by the residents of this tower. It seems the issue is recent and is service-related. We will look into the matter.”

An angered resident Naitik Vyas even pointed out how the BMC is charging five times the money they need to spend on repairing the water tunnel from the builder responsible for causing a leak. “Should they not pass some of this amount to residents as compensation for all the extra expenses on water or adjust our water tax until we recover the losses?”