BMC’s water supply project flows into trouble
Activists see foul play in the appointment of French consultant
The BMC’s inaugural project to study the feasibility of 24-hour water supply
in the K-East (Andheri) ward on Monday has run into trouble with several
organisations protesting against the project.
Civic organisations and activists have voiced concerns about the project
after they were learnt that the BMC had appointed a French consulting firm,
Castalia, to conduct the feasibility study. Moreover, the consultant will be
paid around Rs3crore and the project will be monitored by the World Bank.
Activists feared that Castalia would recommend handing over the water supply
in the K-east ward to a private operator. They said if the BMC implemented
such a suggestion, it would open the door to further privatisation of its
services.
Many people considered water supply an essential function of government, and
think it was dangerous to hand over it to a private party.
“It’s a sellout!” said Shailesh Gandhi, an activist for government
transparency, after attending the BMC’s programme to inaugurate the project.
Others echoed same feelings.
“The BMC (water supply) is good,” a woman said, and added that she did not
want to change it. Others worry that the consultant will recommend a tariff
hike.
But the BMC said it would not raise the tariff in K-East and had no
intention to privatise the supply. BMC’s additional municipal commissioner
Manu Kumar Srivastava also said that the BMC was free to reject the advice
of the consultant if it was not satisfied.
Ehardt, a team member of Castalia, said it would study the total leakage of
water in Andheri (E), and recommend ways to stop water theft and leakage. He
said it would also analyse the water requirement of slum-dwellers,
flat-dwellers, and commercial users.
It will also study why the average flat-dwelling Mumbaikar appears to
consume more water than people in other Asian cities. According to Castalia,
an average flat-dwelling Mumbaikar consumes 240 litres a day, Manila
resident 127 litres, Jakarta resident 76.5 litres and Dhaka resident 104
litres.
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