How Mumbai is dealing with '15 per cent water cut'

Just how does a city of millions cope with a 15 per cent water cut To answer this question midday visited housing societies in the island city and western suburbs as well as slums in the eastern suburbs to learn that the water shortage has left none unscathedSome residents even questioned whether the extent of the water cut exceeded the figure put forth by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC Tanker water suppliers meanwhile said that they are seeing a 20 to 25 per cent rise in demandGhatkopar West residents have been compelled to store waterThe water cut was imposed by the civic body after two mains and a water tunnel were punctured in ThaneEastern suburbsResidents of the eastern suburbsrsquo slum pockets mainly located on the hills of Ghatkopar are making sure that they have a sufficient amount of water for daytoday activities amid the water cut Rekhadevi Mistree a resident of Bhau Mastar Chawl in Ghatkopar West said ldquoWe never used to face water shortages in our area We had a continuous supply before the cut But since last week we have been facing issuesrdquoKamlesh Dadarkar Datta Digambar CHS Dadar West Chetan Kothari Oceanic Apartments Breach Candy and Rekhadevi Mistree resident Bhau Mastar Chawl Ghatkopar WestNandini Nalawade who resides at More Chawl said ldquoThe cut has forced us to store water in multiple utensils On a normal day it takes half an hour to store the amount we need but now as the water pressure is lower than usual it takes more timerdquoAnother More Chawl resident who did not wish to be named said ldquoWater supply is rarely a problem in our area But for a week we have been badly hit We now take twice as much time as usual to fill the days water Also we are not sure whether or not the water will come tomorrow So we are storing extra water in utensils and potsrdquoResidents of Ambawadi in Dahisar East attempt to fill as many containers as possible to weather out the situation PicsNimesh DaveWestern suburbsResidents of the Chandivlibased Synchronicity Cooperative Housing Society in Andheri East said that they had to spend hours looking for waterAlso read The Rs 13cr error that punctured Mumbairsquos water supply for one monthMandeep Singh Makkar the chairman of the society said that the BMC did not issue a notice to the society and that they were spending an extra Rs 1000 to Rs 1500 on an average on water tankers to meet the water demands of the societyrsquos 266 flats Makkar said some society members had to spend a few hours in search of water tankers as the demand is very high due to the water crisis in the cityldquoAround five water tankers were brought to fulfil the needs of around 266 families living in the societyrdquo he saidA local resident Raj Singh said the situation is terrible in Borivli West and Gorai ldquoIs it a 15 per cent water cut or is 15 per cent of water being supplied by the civic body The BMC will need to carry out repair work on a war footing and also look into the water tanker mafia which is supplying water at skyhigh rates to societiesrdquo Singh saidSynchronicity Housing Society at Chandivli in Andheri EastCentral MumbaiAt Dadar the crisis is severe Kamlesh Dadarkar secretary of Datta Digambar Housing Society Agashe Road Dadar West said ldquoFor the past four days we are buying water via tankers Usually we get water from 330 pm to 730 pm but for the past few days water is supplied from 4 pm to 7 pm It is insufficient To meet the daily needs of the society we are purchasing two tankers worth of water The BMC should rope in additional workers to ensure the repair work is completed at the earliestrdquoSouth MumbaiNikhil Bankar secretary of Marine Drive Residentsrsquo Association said locals have been buying tanker water daily ldquoUsually when the supply of water is normal we used to receive one and a half hourrsquos water supply but since a week we hardly get one hours supply There are around 100 buildings in our locality nearly 30 per cent of them are facing problemsrdquo Suresh Chabaria another Marine Drive resident saidNandini Nalawade Viral Doshi Indrani Malkhani Nikhil Bankar and Jasbeer Singh BiraMany societies at Malabar Hill Breach Candy and Nepean Sea Road are also relying on tanker water for which they are paying about Rs 1600 to Rs 2200 per dayDr Shashi Kapoor an ophthalmologist who has a clinic at Om Chambers Kemps Corner said ldquoThere are multiple clinics and offices in the building We are relying on tankers and pay around Rs 2000 to Rs 2200 for their services The BMC should resolve the issue as early as possibleChetan Kothari a resident of Oceanic Apartments at Breach Candy said ldquoDue to the water supply we are facing lots of problems Water used to be supplied for at least three hours but in the past few days we have been receiving water for only one or one and half hours We are relying on water tankers The BMC must execute the work on a war footing or it will become extremely difficult for people to carry out their daily tasks The civic body must consider alternative arrangements in case such incidents occurrdquoViral Doshi a resident of Raja Shreepal Cooperative Housing Society Malabar Hill said members would be supplied water from 7 to 10 am and for two hours in the evening ldquoWe are now relying on tankers for which the society is paying around Rs 1600 to Rs 2000 I hope the BMC completes the repair work at the earliestrdquo he saidSouth Mumbai resident Indrani Malkani the chairperson of V Citizens Action Network a notforprofit organisation established by publicspirited citizens said ldquoThere is a water shortage in certain parts of D ward As people are aware of the issue they are using water accordingly Ward officials have made arrangements for tankers so the supply is smoothrdquoJasbir Singh Bira president Mumbai Water Tanker Association said ldquoThere has been an almost 20 to 25 per cent rise in demand for water tankers But we cant provide enough water as during the summer season water storage in wells decreases There are around 1800 water tankers in the city which run an average of six trips daily The standard cost per tanker is around Rs 1000 to Rs 1200 depending on the distancerdquo25Percentage increase in demand for tanker water