Mumbai, March 7: As Mumbai reels under scorching heat, large parts of the city are grappling with severe water shortages. Corporators across party lines have slammed the administration over the crisis in their wards.
In response, the Standing Committee is set to convene a special meeting with the Hydraulic Engineering Department to urgently tackle the looming water emergency.
Standing committee clears Borivali reservoir repair
The Standing Committee on Friday approved the proposal to repair the Borivali reservoir, which supplies water to Borivali and Dahisar. During the discussion, House Leader Ganesh Khankar questioned how long the repairs would take, given the reservoir’s critical role.
Shiv Sena corporator Anjali Naik warned that in her ward, especially Bharat Nagar Tekdi, households are still not receiving water, and inadequate tanker supplies are forcing residents to fetch water manually.
Corporators flag supply gaps across wards
Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator Deepmala Bade pointed out that despite a water treatment plant in Bhandup, residents still do not receive an adequate supply, and hilly areas remain dry.
NCP’s Dr. Saida Khan added that four years without a corporator has severely disrupted the distribution system, which urgently needs to be fixed.
MNS group leader Yashwant Killedar described Dadar as the heart of Mumbai and said that during his campaign, residents personally showed him how water reaches homes at extremely low pressure. He called the situation deplorable, noting that if such low pressure exists in Dadar, it is a serious concern.
Congress group leader Ashraf Azmi added that while his ward never faced water shortages before, the past four years have seen the problem worsen. MIM’s Zameer Qureshi highlighted that in the M-East slum areas, residents are being supplied contaminated water, which they are forced to consume.
The discussion also saw participation from several other corporators such as Ajanta Yadav, Tulip Miranda, Yamini Jadhav, Shraddha Jadhav, and T. Jagdish.
Standing committee calls for urgent action
Standing Committee Chairperson Prabhakar Shinde emphasised that even when all lakes are full, low water pressure indicates a failure in the distribution system, which the administration must address urgently.
He also called on the Hydraulic Engineering Department to verify whether the rainwater harvesting systems in buildings are functioning effectively. Shinde stressed the need to accelerate the Gargai dam project. To tackle these issues, he announced that a special meeting will be convened.
Rising demand and water losses add to crisis
While two of Mumbai's key water sources, Tulsi and Vihar lakes, are located within the city, the other five lakes are spread across neighbouring districts like Palghar, Thane, and Nashik, ranging from 100 to 175 km away. Water from these lakes is transported through 650 km of transmission pipes and 6,000 km of service pipes.
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Mumbai receives 4,000 Million Litres (ML) of water daily, falling short of the total demand of 4,463 ML. Even more concerning, the city’s potable water demand is expected to increase by 1.5 times by 2041, reaching 6,900 ML per day.
For years, crores have been poured into replacing ageing pipelines and repairing leaks. Yet, water loss soared to an alarming 34%, up from 20% in 2009, as per the civic data.
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