Mumbai readies for 24-hour water cut

Mumbai: Residents of Mumbai, India's commercial capital, filled buckets, pots and containers with water yesterday to prepare for a 24-hour shutdown of the city's water supply.

Officials plan to cut off the supply to the city of some 16 million people for one day starting this morning to allow engineers to lay several kilometres of new pipes to improve the water distribution network.

The work will enable the city to supply its residents with an additional 250 million litres of water per day, said A.N. Kajbaje, a senior city hydraulic engineer.

The city currently receives about 3.2 billion litres of water a day but needs close to 3.9 billion litres , he said.

Water supplies in many Indian cities remain erratic with frequent shortages and cuts. Many city residents, particularly those who live in slums, do not have piped water in their homes and rely on communal taps or pumps.

Kajbaje said the situation in Mumbai will be very good after the new pipes are installed. "Mumbai has the best water situation in the whole country," he said.

Residents, meanwhile, stockpiled water ahead of the cut. "From advertisements in the newspapers we came to know about the water cut. I have more than two days of stored water at my house now for daily household chores," said Kamala Chavan, a homemaker.