‘Cuts not a long-term solution’

The municipal body’s ‘no water for one day every week’ scheme is not a permanent solution to the city’s water problems, says the man who recommended the scheme to the civic body.

The municipal body’s ‘no water for one day every week’ scheme is not a permanent solution to the city’s water problems, says the man who recommended the scheme to the civic body.

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Madhav Chitale, the water management specialist who headed the Chitale Committee, which recommended the once-a-week no water plan, spoke to Hindustan Times about solving Mumbai’s water woes.

Chitale said equitable distribution of water in the city can only be achieved by elevating the water pipeline network to reach hilly areas and fag-ends, adding more reservoirs and artificially increasing pressure.

“The once-a-week no water scheme will save 15 per cent water everyday. But zoning and rationing will not help the pressure of water. For water to reach hilly areas, changes should be made in the distribution system,” Chitale said over the phone from Aurangabad.

Due to inadequate water stocks, BMC plans to implement a once-a-week no-water scheme for two weeks on an experimental basis staring mid-January. The scheme aims to conserve water by reducing leakages and domestic wastage and is expected to save 435 million litres of water daily.

Chitale said the main idea behind cutting off supply of water for one day in a week was to reduce leakage. 40 per cent of water is lost due to leakages and if supply is cut for a day, 6 per cent of water can be saved.

“BMC made a big mistake by not implementing the report earlier. The situation wouldn’t have been this bad if the recommendations were taken seriously then,” he added. Chitale had suggested stringent water cuts in the city to augment water supply in his report completed in 1999.

BMC’s reasoning behind the trial run of the ‘no water for one day in a week’ scheme is that the supply of 2,900 million litres daily (mld), down from the usual requirement of 3,300 mld is resulting in inequitable distribution and low pressure.

The problem is acute for those living in hilly areas and at the end of the supply chain.

Chitale said low pressure and inequitable distribution is a result of rise in number of users and by 2021, demand for water is expected to rise to 5,400 mld.