Mumbai studies options to keep taps flowing

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is studying various options as it attempts to manage dwindling resources in the city's major reservoirs by enforcing strict supply cuts.

Though no confirmed decision has been taken, city administrators are weighing a proposal to completely cut water supply to different areas of the city for at least one day each week, said a BMC spokesperson.

"Already, a 15 per cent cut for domestic consumption and 30 per cent cut for commercial use is being enforced for the last one month," he said.

Scanty monsoon rains have left the six lakes that supply drinking water to the city depleted.

Dialogue mooted

At a BMC meeting on Monday, a proposal to impose a 100 per cent water once a week was discussed but no decision taken. Wary of imposing arbitrary supply cuts, several municipal corporators called for a dialogue with citizens on the issue.

The fact, however, is that a 100 per cent cut will save 2,990 million litres of water in a week, a civic official observed. Western suburbs have been the worst-hit by the water crisis.

The BMC plans to implement the idea in a few areas on a pilot basis though it has not disclosed where such a trial would be conducted.

The BMC, meanwhile, has been trying to create awareness about the need to conserve water and to avoid wastage, especially in the daily washing of cars by vehicle owners. "The BMC has even asked hotels and the railways to begin making arrangements for their own water supply," said a civic official.