The BMC supplies 3,850 million litres of water daily to the city. However, due to pilferage and unauthorised connections, almost 25 per cent (around 900 million litres) of water is wasted daily.
After receiving numerous complaints from the western suburbs, the civic body has undertaken the work of leak detection and is also laying 450 to 900 mm of new pipelines in Kandivali, Borivali and Dahisar. The estimated cost of the work is around Rs 23.63 crore.
The water from the lakes located in Thane district is supplied to the city through a network of pipelines. But the pipelines that were laid more than 100 years ago have become weak and fragile over the years. They develop bursts and leakages resulting in the loss of lakhs of litres of water every year. To prevent it, the BMC has undertaken the pipeline replacement and restoration project.
The repairs and replacement of old pipelines has already been undertaken along the Bandra-Andheri stretch. The BMC has now invited a tender to repair and replace old pipelines in Kandivali, Borivali and Dahisar.
“To improve water supply in these areas the civic body will be laying 80 to 330 mm and 450 to 900 mm of pipelines in some areas. This work will help to stop combination and increase the pressure of water supply,” said a civic official from the hydraulics department.
According to city-based NGO Praja's report on civic issues, in 2021, the BMC received 11,855 complaints related to water, of which 29 per cent or 3,434 were about leaks. The remaining 1,369 (12 per cent) and 3,914 (30 per cent) complaints were regarding quality and shortage, respectively.
