The crucial debate in the general body meeting to review the civic administration's move of clamping down on new water lines hit a dead end on Friday.
The Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) had been at the receiving end of political parties owing to the water shortage following back-to-back technical snags and shutdowns by the service providers for the past couple of months. To counter the looming water crisis, the civic administration had chalked out a contingency plan which envisaged a series of measures including- clamping down on the issuance of new water lines till the quantum of supply reaches sufficient levels.
However, members of the BJP-which single-handedly rules the civic body vehemently opposed the move to clamp on new water lines.
Some members of the opposition suggested the issuance of new water connections only to those structures which had occupancy certificates (OC).
The absence of a proper explanatory document attached to the resolution added more confusion to the debate which hit a dead end after a two-hour stint. It was finally decided that the subject will be taken in the next general body meeting.
Against the requirement of over 225 MLD, the twin-city has an allotted supply of 211 MLD provided jointly by the MIDC (125 MLD) and STEM (86 MLD) water supply authority. However, the actual supply hovers below 190 MLD.
With no self-sustained resources of water supply like other civic bodies, the twin-city also faces a demographic dilemma as it falls in the tail-end of the district. The total number of water lines issued by the MBMC was pegged at 43,617 till October- 2021.
With civic elections scheduled next year, the move of banning new water lines was bound to trigger a major controversy.
