BMC’s Rs 80-cr plan to battle water crisis

The civic body has allocated Rs 80 to battle the water crisis by finding an alternative solution to the city’s water problems, reports Bhavika Jain .

The civic body has allocated Rs 80 to battle the water crisis by finding an alternative solution to the city’s water problems.

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BMC plans to spend this money in digging and cleaning bore wells, de-silting rivers, setting up small filtration plants and setting up small tanks across the city. “We have received the standing committees’ sanction for Rs 50 crore and the rest Rs 30 crore is expected to be sanctioned by next week,” said Anil Diggikar, Additional Municipal Commissioner.

The decision on the increasing water cuts by ten per cent will be taken in the all-party meeting on Wednesday.

“Work on more than 850 bore wells has begun. These bore wells and filtration plants will be set up on hilly areas on priority basis as these areas will be worse hit when the water cuts are increased,” added Diggikar.

Standing Committee chairman Ravindra Waikar has also written to Diggikar asking him to explore water reserves in the Konkan Maharashtra belt.

“I have received the letter, he has asked as to check if 1,000 million litres of water can be bought in for the city from the Konkan belt. We haven’t decided anything on it yet,” added Diggikar. He also added that in a month’s time the civic body will install 110 flow metres across the city to check leakages and calculate distribution.

The civic body has also set up a toll free number for registering complaints on leakages and water theft from November 1.