Corporators urge action against 'tanker mafia' amid water crisis
Mumbai, June 23 -- With Mumbai facing a delayed monsoon and water cuts already in force, corporators across party lines on Monday urged the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to revive traditional water sources, plug leakages and crack down on unauthorised water use.
The worsening water shortage dominated the BMC's general body meeting, with elected representatives pressing the civic administration to adopt immediate and long-term measures to ease the crisis.
Leader of the House, Ganesh Khankar, proposed a citywide campaign to revive wells, calling on the BMC to clean, restore and register them while conducting a comprehensive audit of all borewells. The audit, he said, should identify functional, non-functional and unauthorised borewells, followed by a policy for their regulation, recharge and sustainable use. Khankar also demanded that the BMC's decision to stop supplying water to public swimming pools be extended to private pools.
Corporators said residents were increasingly questioning them about water cuts and the measures being taken to prevent a deeper crisis.
Siddharth Sharma, corporator from Malad East, said Mumbai's water security had become overly dependent on rainfall. "There are 17,437 wells across the city, but only 619 have received NOCs from the BMC. If these wells are cleaned, maintained and their upkeep is taken over by the civic body, it will reduce pressure on the city's seven reservoirs," he said.
Ankit Prabhu, corporator from Goregaon, said, "There are so many buildings that claim that they do rain water harvesting , the administration should see how to implement it properly to make sure there is an alternative to the crisis. The rates of water tankers have increased. Who will control the tanker mafia? It has been flourishing," he said.
Ayesha Vanu, corporator from Wadala, urged the civic body to take immediate measures such as desilting Tulsi and Vihar lakes while larger water projects remain under way.
Responding to the concerns, Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) Abhijit Bangar said, "Mumbai has enough water stock until August 20. We will disconnect water connections to swimming pools and construction sites drawing BMC water through unauthorised means."
Bangar added that the civic body had already begun reviving wells across the city. He also said the seven sewage treatment plants (STPs) under construction would enable Mumbai to recycle nearly 1,200 million litres of water a day, reducing the use of potable water for non-drinking purposes....
इस लेख के रीप्रिंट को खरीदने या इस प्रकाशन का पूरा फ़ीड प्राप्त करने के लिए, कृपया
हमे संपर्क करें.