Despite assurances, Thane residents face water woes

TMC has assured that additional water tankers would be provided to areas facing shortage

Ankita G Menon

THANE: Residents of some areas of Ghodbunder Road and Diva are facing water shortage despite assurances from the authorities that there is enough water supply and no water cuts would be implemented in the city this summer.

Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has assured that additional water tankers would be provided to areas with shortage of water and the supply issues would be sorted in a month. However, residents are unhappy with the delay as inadequate water supply is making it difficult in summer.

Vipin Sharma, TMC commissioner, said, “We have given assurance that we shall fix the water connectivity and supply issues to Diva. Due to the lockdown and as the contractor’s tenure was over, the repair work was delayed. Within the next one month, it will be functioning properly and the water supply issues will be resolved. In the meantime, we shall provide water tankers to these areas where supply is inadequate.”

Diva requires 35 million litres of water whereas only 29 million litres are being provided. As there are repair works going on at the water purification site, the supply remains inadequate. TMC is in the process of paying the contractor and restarting the water work as of now.

“Summers are when we need adequate water supply, at least for drinking and cooking. We spend around ₹2,000 to ₹3,000 every month only for purchasing drinking water. This happens almost every year, and every morning we have to fill up buckets, pots and pans with water to ensure we have enough for the day. Despite this, there are days when we fall short and have to purchase extra water,” said Aarohi Jadhav, 43, a resident of Diva.

Residents of Diva, on Wednesday, gathered at Nitin Junction and walked towards TMC in protest of the water shortage. Irked with the water supply issues, the residents broke matkas in a symbolic gesture outside the civic body headquarters to grab attention of the administration.

Suhasini Gulekar, 56, a resident of Ghodbunder Road, said, “There are parts of Ghodbunder Road where water supply is not adequate on some days. We are often told that repair work at the water purification units is the reason for the lack of supply. We have complained many times to the local authorities.”

According to the civic body, as there are increasing construction activities and residential projects along Ghodbunder Road, there will constantly be repair or connection work in order to provide water supply to larger areas.

“With increased development, there will be certain new pockets that will have to deal with repair work as the city is expanding and the demand for water supply is also increasing every day,” added a senior civic official.

Meanwhile, with over 50% water stock available, the water supply will suffice till June, say officers.

The rate of daily water depletion, evaporation of water due to rising temperature is assessed by the irrigation department. It has not released any water cut order yet as there is enough water stock.

Although MIDC is responsible for distributing water from Barvi Dam, it is up to the irrigation department to decide the extent of water cut and water supply to the city.

“Every year, from January, water cuts are implemented by the irrigation department to plan the storage of water in the dams till June 15. Earlier, we used to start with once a week water cuts that have been exempted this year. This reduction used to be applicable till the onset of rain. However, due to good rain last year, the dam has sufficient water reserves,” said Narendra Mahajan, executive engineer, irrigation department, Thane district.

PRAFUL GANGURDE/HT PHOTO Residents of Diva during a protest against water shortage in Thane recently.