No shortage of wastage
Neeta Kolhatkar
Faulty water meters and low usage charges encourage Mumbaikars to be
profligate in their consumption of water. Neeta Kolhatkar reports
Aditi Vora, an investment banker living in Santa Cruz, recently installed
shower jets, which branch out into multiple nozzles, in all three bathrooms
of her home. She had no clue how much extra water they use. “Our interior
designer only said these showers require more force, for which she installed
pumps,” says Vora. “Frankly, I had no idea they use a lot more water than
the normal showers.”
Municipal engineers say such high-end appliances, which have hit the market
in a big way of late, are contributing to the wastage of water in Mumbai.
“They have high water usage and should not be installed,” said TV Shah, an
officer with the hydraulics department, Brihanmumbai Muncipal Corporation
(BMC).
BMC surveys have shown wide disparities in domestic consumption of water,
which exceeds the national norm of 135 litres a day per person in many areas
of Mumbai.
“Only in the old buildings and chawls do the residents use less than 135
litres a day per head. Most others use 250 litres a day on an average.
Obviously then there will be supply problems,” says Shah.
The need to be more frugal in using water comes from a growing demand-supply
gap which, by the BMC’s own admission, is 900 million litres a day – nearly
a quarter of the demand. A Tata Institute of Social Sciences study put the
shortfall at much higher, taking into account an estimated 25 per cent loss
in leakage and pilfering. Growth in population and migration into the city
will only add to the shortage, leading to supply interruptions, unless
conservation measures are enforced.
The main step towards cutting consumption will be setting up of water meters
and a variable tariff structure, so that consumers have a reason to watch
their usage, as in the case of electricity.