Water supply in Mumbai homes set to increase

The civic body also aims to achieve equitable water distribution to even the slum areas

Residents of Bandra Santacruz, Khar (West) and Mulund will soon get water supply for longer hours of the day.

The project described as the ‘24x7 water supply project’ may not supply round-the-clock water, but there will be a substantial increase in supply, said civic officials. (Representational Image)

The civic body has completed 90 per cent of the work under its Water Distribution and Improv-ement Project (WDIP) in the pilot wards — H/West (Bandra and adjoining areas) and T (Mulund).

The project described as the ‘24x7 water supply project’ may not supply round-the-clock water, but there will be a substantial increase in supply, said civic officials.

After the project deadline was pushed further, these areas will finally get augmented water supply by March.

An official of the BMC’s hydraulic department said, “We are in the process of fixing pressure regulatory valves and flow meters in the water mains right now. This will help increase the water pressure in low-pressure areas without actually releasing more water and adding costs.”

Under the project, the BMC planned to offer 10 services that included quality assurance for water, leak detection in pipes, GIS (geographical information system) mapping for the existing water supply network, among others.

According to a senior civic official, GIS mapping of the city’s 7,000 km long network of pipelines has already started.

“Another priority for us under the project is equitable water distribution to slum areas,” said the official.

Speaking on reasons for delay and challenges of the project, chief engineer (hydraulic) Ashokkumar Tawadia said, “We have had to replace many old pipelines which were contaminating the water. Removing the [illegal] pipeline bunches going into slums and reducing leakages and wastage of water has been difficult and time-consuming.”