Urban News

Hindustan Times 17.12.2009

Fearing that the city could face water shortage in the future too if rains fail, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is looking for new sources of water.

In the absence of water reserves near the city, the BMC is looking at drawing water from Konkan.

The two proposals under consideration are diverting water from the Koyna hydropower project in Satara and from Patalganga river in Khopoli.

Water released from the Koyna hydro project goes into the sea. The BMC is considering diverting this water to Mumbai through pipelines.

Another option is water released from a power station at Khopoli in Raigad into Patalganga river. This can be diverted to Bhatsa dam, which supplies water to Mumbai.

Experts have questioned the viability of these projects. “To divert water from long distances one needs huge funds and even environmental clearance if there are forests on the way,” said S S Tinaikar, former municipal commissioner. “These projects have limitations.”

The demand for water in Mumbai is 4,200 MLD (million litres daily). The city gets 3,450 MLD from six lakes. The BMC estimates a rise of 100 MLD in the annual demand.

The water stocks in Modak Sagar and Upper Vaitarna the two biggest lakes that supply water to the city and western suburbs is dipping drastically leading to a dip in the water levels in the Bhandup Master Balance Reservoir (MBR).

The BMC has imposed a 15 per cent water cut to meet the shortfall. The civic body expects the Middle Vaitarna dam, which will provide 455 MLD, to be completed by 2012. The Gargai and Pinjal dams will be completed by 2021 and provide 1,300 MLD of water.

Additional Municipal Commissioner Anil Diggikar feels demand may stabilise in future.

“We work according to the Chitale Committee report which had said that population may stagnate after 2021 as there won’t be any place to accommodate people,” said Diggikar. “We are considering that there won’t be a rise in demand after that.” Tinaikar, however, argued that population is never constant.

The Chitale Committee, headed by former irrigation secretary Madhav Chitale was appointed in 1993 for advice on long term planning for augmenting water supply to the city. The committee had recommended that the Middle Vaitarna and Gargai, Pinjal projects be given priority.

Indain Express 17.12.2009

Beneath the floor, source of plenty to drink & sell

Ram Jaiswal’s 10×10 room houses not only his ironing shop but also a well. Ten feet deep and covered by a plastic drum, it is his answer to the water crisis plaguing the city. “Water would never have reached us otherwise,” says Jaiswal.

The area, Ekta Nagar slums in Mandala, Mankhurd, is near the creek, and a high-suction motor recharges the groundwater in an hour. The brackish water sustains not only his family of five but also their neighbours, Shehnaz Sheikh’s family of six.

“You needn’t be a scientist to find water here. Dig deep anywhere and you will find it. In 10 minutes at least five cans are filled,” says Jaiswal’s wife Neelam

The water shortage has made entrepreneurs out of the slumdwellers of Mankhurd and Govandi. In the sprawling Ekta Nagar slums, one in every five houses has a well inside. Chinu and Ruby Chaurasia have a legal connection but have still dug a well indoors and sell water to neighbours at Rs 2 a can.

Known for its high slum population - almost 80 per cent of the total - and lowest on the Human Development Index, the Govandi-Mankhurd belt in the eastern suburbs is also notorious for illegal connections to the main pipeline and sale to settlers. A municipal crackdown (92 FIRs, 676 disconnections and confiscation of 291 pumps in three weeks) has not stopped people from innovating

Those who fail to innovate have to buy. The well in Rashida Khatoon’s small room yields gutter water, blackish, foamy and smelly, with cockroaches floating. On Sunday, the police confiscated a motor that would have sucked in fresh water. “Why is it illegal to have a machine on my legal connection. When we don’t get municipal water, how are my five kids supposed to wash and drink?”

“We will otherwise never get water even for drinking,” says Tasadukk Hussain who was detained Sunday for fixing the motor.

The only legal source is the BMC tanker that arrives about once in three days and supplies two cans of fresh water, supposed to be free. Some groups allegedly use political influence to buy the water tankers. “We are given coupons with which we get two cans. We pay Rs 2 to Rs 5 for one can,” said a slumdweller who did not say who gets the money.

Badruddin Sheikh, among the many who sell water in Shivaji Nagar, said unemployed youths go to Chembur and other far-off localities that get daily supply. “They fill water from legal connections and sell it where there is a shortage.”

A can, called fuga, with a capacity of 35 litres, is sold between Rs 15 and Rs 20. Before the crisis, the Fuga would cost Rs 2 to Rs 5. The BMC has ordered a police crackdown on fugawallas, whose equipment is confiscated and who are detained for a few hours.

Sheikh’s cousin Rehena Aziz has a legal connection and uses it to sell water. “We fix seven or more plastic pipes to the main line and route water to people’s houses.” The charge is Rs 300 a month.

Supply is so erratic here that people fill containers through pipelines that pass through gutters. “As long as we have some water, we don’t care where it comes from,” says Sushila Jaiswal.

According to rough BMC estimates, around 700 million litres of water is lost in a day to pilferage, illegal connections or leaks. Additional municipal commissioner (projects) Anil Diggikar said that after an FIR, if a person is still found to have an illegal connection and to be stealing water, he will be booked under the strict Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act.