Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
Ghodbunder Rd, Indira Nagar get extra 6mld water
THANE: Residents living at Ghodbunder Road and Indira Nagar havegotsomerespitefromwater shortage.
ThaneMunicipalCorporation issupplyingtheareasadditional water supply of 6 million litres perday(mld)fromShahad-Temghar Water Supply Authority (STEM).TheSTEMissupplying additional water since Diwali.
TMC said it is trying for 4mld more water from the same authority. The worst-affected were residents living on the outskirtssuchasGhodbunderRoad andpartsofWagaleEstate,where there was no water supply for about 30 to 36 hours a week.
Most of the housing societies had to depend on tanker water.
Thecityreceives110to113mld of water from STEM.
An officer from TMC water supplydepartmentsaid,“InOctober, the civic commissioner wrote to the STEM authorities, demanding 10mld more water. JustbeforeDiwali,STEMagreed tosupply6mld.Wearesupplying the additional water to areas in Ghodbunder and Wagale Estate where the water supply is by STEM.”
He said the additional water hasregularisedthesupplyalong Ghodbunder Road.
“We are able to supply sufficient water to most residential complexes along Ghodbunder Road.Theremightbesomesocietieswhicharestillnotgettingsufficientwater.TheSTEMhasalso claimed that they will take stock and then decide if they can provide us 4mld more water,” the officer said.
Sagar Gajre, 35, a resident of Waghbil,isamongthosewhohad been facing insufficient water supply. “The additional water supplyshouldberegularevenin summerwhenthewatercrisisis at its peak. This summer we had to depend entirely on tanker water. TMC had told the court that it had sufficient water for Ghodbunder. The water did not reach us.”
The two major dams which supply water to Thane are the Barvi and Andra dams.
TMC has also demanded an additional water supply from Barvidamafterthecapacitywas increased. In 2016, Barvi dam’s water capacity was increased from 178mcm to 234mcm. It also hasplanstoincreasethecapacity to 340 mcm, but only after people near the dam are rehabilitated.
Thaneresidentshavenotbenefittedfromtheadditionalwater stock.
In July, TMC along with several other municipal corporations conducted a meeting with the Barvi authorities for additional supply. The authorities hadagreedtoincreasethesupply provided the corporation gives jobs to those displaced and bears 10% construction cost of the proposed Shahi and Kalu dam.
Thewaterdepartmentsaidthe discussion is still going on at the state level. “The irrigation department had sent us a proposaltoprovidejobsto279people for additional water supply. We can only hire as many people as per the posts approved by the state government. Our department has drafted a letter to the state two months ago, inquiring howmanypeopleweredisplaced by the project. Depending on the state’s reply, we can tell how many jobs we can provide,” said the official.