The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is set to replace old water pumps between Fort and Kalbadevi in South Mumbai, to resolve the issue of low water pressure. Senior officials said the pumps will be replaced in the next nine months. The estimated cost of the project will be Rs 12-16 crore.
South Mumbai receives water supply from the Malabar Hill reservoir. Residential pockets of Fort, Colaba, Kalbadevi and Bori Bunder rely on the pumping station at Azad Maidan grounds. However, since the past month, local residents have been complaining about low supply, and some of them have also raised the issue with their local public representatives.
Rita Makwana, the BJP corporator from Kalbadevi, said the Malabar Hill reservoir doesn’t receive adequate supply from the lakes. She said the reservoir has a capacity to store around 150-200 MLD water. However, for the past few months, there has been a scarcity, resulting in low pressure in some areas.
Fort resident Samir Gupte said the water supply has been so low in his area that residents have to rely on tankers. He said, “The Azad Maidan pumps are decades old and we face the same problem for almost three months every year.”
A BMC official said not only is the Azad Nagar pumping station more than two decades old, the population and demography of the area has also changed a lot in this period. He said apart from residential buildings, many commercial entities have been set up in the area, putting pressure on the station.
