The trickle effect

It is only a people's initiative which will ensure that consistent water supply reaches all even as Mumbai battles burgeoning population.

Mumbai is one of the ten mega-cities in the world. It also has the eighth largest water supply system in the world and the largest water treatment plant in Asia. As a result, sections of the population have an assured water supply and can even afford to indulge in overuse and waste while other parts queue up and squabble over water, bad sanitation, and have to put up with dirt and disease due to lack of water. The daily influx of people into the city in search of a livelihood only adds to the burden of the water-stressed zones.

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But let's go back a little bit…

The story begins in 1818. Before that Bombay town's citizenry managed their water needs through 136 public and private wells and tanks. In 1818, under the British empire, Bombay was identified as a nodal colonial town and a centre for the overseas trade in cotton and opium. The employment generated attracted a large migratory population from distant parts of the country. The population doubled to reach half a million by 1840 and the existing water sources became grossly insufficient, especially in the face of poor monsoons.

The result was foul odours, cholera epidemics, day and night queues for water, a risk of civic unrest and even a planned evacuation from the city.