Mumbai: Hotels, malls, clubs affected as water tankers go on strike

Owing to a strike called by the Mumbai Water Tanker Association (MWTA), several commercial establishments, including malls, hotels, hospitals, clubs, construction sites and even housing societies in the city, have been hit by water shortage.

The strike was launched on February 9 following a police circular warning of FIR's against those not adhering to the new rules of the Central Ground Water Authority.

Jal Shakti ministry's norms

The Mumbai Water Tankers' Association claimed that some of the new rules, such as the requirement of 200 square metres of space around wells, the ban on filling tankers on roads or footpaths, mandatory parking, salinity tests, and satellite metres for groundwater lifting, are not feasible.

The norms were issued by the Jal Shakti ministry. The Mumbai police issued a circular last week requiring them to comply or face charges under various sections of the IPC.

While the city receives approximately 3,850 million litres per day (MLD) from the BMC, nearly an equal amount of water is delivered to various locations by water tankers.

Spokesperson of the association, Ankur Sharma said that several major infrastructure work sites, hotels, private clubs get water from these tankers since there is no regular pipeline available for water supply.

He added that they never faced any such problems during the previous MVA government.

Swimming pools shut in two South Mumbai clubs

Moreover, because of the strike, two prominent South Mumbai clubs; the Garware Club House and Cricket Club of India have shut their swimming pools due to a lack of freshwater.