24x7 water supply project affects suburbs for few hrs

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) pilot project to provide longer hours of water supply to suburbs caused a snag on Wednesday, leaving several suburban areas including Vikhroli, Mulund and Bhandup temporarily reeling from water cuts or reduced pressure. A water pipeline leak in Mulund (West) also added to extra woes.

On the other hand, a delay in connecting a water pipeline running from Powai to Veravali to the main supply centre at Bhandup-maroshi, affected supply in western suburbs such as Andheri, Bandra, Vile Parle and Juhu.

The pilot project, called 24x7 water supply project, may not supply round-the-clock water, but there will be long hours of water supply.

A senior civic official from the hydraulic department said, “The pipeline damages at Mulund were repaired and restored completely. The issue was resolved and water supply was restored around 6pm.” But Sarika Pawar, ward committee chairman of S ward (Vikhroli, Bhandup), said several areas complained of no water supply till late evening.

Shreyas Bhatkar, a resident of Vikhroli, said, “Our entire area (Tagore Nagar) received low-

pressure water on Tuesday and then there has been no supply to our building since morning. We have been receiving contaminated water at intervals and the ward officials are least concerned about the issue.”

On average, each household in Mumbai gets about three to four hours of water daily. The BMC manages to supply 3,750 million litres of water daily against the city’s demand of 4,200 million litres.