For, faced with rapid development of the suburbs and an ever-increasing demand for water supply from new constructions, the civic body has decided to axe the supply of water to new constructions by half — from the present 90 litres per person per day to 45 litres per person per day. And this too will only be for buildings whose demand is less than 2 lakh litres per day. Those whose demand exceeds that figure will simply have to wait for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s water supply sources are significantly augmented. The 90-litres per capita per day is an existing national norm for water supply and existing buildings that already have water connections will continue to get this supply.
“We are not able to provide equal water to all areas, plus there are issues of leakages and illegal connections. Although we are addressing the shortcomings, the demand for more water is growing rapidly,” said Hydraullic Engineer M M Kamble. “We have therefore proposed to supply less water per capita per day to all new connections. A final approval from the municipal commissioner in this regard is expected soon.”
By 2011, when the BMC’s ambitious Middle Vaitarna Project is scheduled to be complete, the civic body will get an additional 455 million litres per day, following which new constructions with a demand for more than 2 lakh litres of water per day can get authorised water connections. Till then, they will have to manage with borewells, rain water harvesting systems or pay for water tankers.
Small housing societies require between 25,000 litres and 50,000 litres of water per day. Big residential complexes with multistorey buildings and numerous wings usually find their demand for water exceeding 2 lakh litres per day. In addition, the BMC has also proposed to cut down water supply for new connections that were granted on ‘humanitarian’ grounds. These include connections granted to constructions with FSI violations, those not having the mandatory Occupation Certificate (OC), schemes under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority and tenements of various Project Affected People (PAP). “We will continue to provide water on humanitarian grounds, but only half of the national norm,” Kamble said.
At present, the city’s daily water supply is 3,400 mld, sourced from dams across six lakes on the outskirts of Mumbai — Bhatsa, Tansa, Upper Vaitarna, Modak Sagar, Tulsi and Vihar. However, the actual demand is 4,250 mld. Additionally, around 600 mld of water is lost to leakages and pilferage.
The civic administration has taken steps to counter the shortcomings by reviving the leak detection department and installing pipes which are theft-proof. Around 28 illegal pumps were also seized last week from a “water mafia” operating in the Govandi area. Action has been taken on 316 unauthorised connections till September this year.