At a time when Mumbai is reeling under a 10 per cent water cut due to depleting water stocks in the seven lakes that supply water to the city, the Mumbai Water Tanker Association (MWTA) has announced an indefinite strike from midnight on June 7. The announcement comes even as Mumbai’s overall water stock has fallen below 15 per cent.
The MWTA is the apex body representing water tankers that supply between 200 million litres per day (MLD) and 2,000 MLD to residential, industrial and commercial establishments. These tankers source water from privately owned wells.
The association’s decision follows notices issued by tehsildar offices in the Mumbai suburban district to several owners and operators of ring wells and borewells, directing them to stop supplying water to tankers and obtain fresh licences from the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA). The notices also state that some of these wells have become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and direct owners to fill them with earth and other material.
According to a notice issued by the Andheri tehsildar’s office to a ring well operator on June 4, authorities have asked the operator to submit, within seven days, a no-objection certificate showing compliance with CGWA guidelines. The notice further states that operators continuing to extract groundwater without the required permissions could face disconnection of electricity supply and seizure of groundwater extraction equipment.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Ankur Sharma, spokesperson for the MWTA, said that while Mumbai has around 18,000 ring well and borewell operators, notices have so far been issued to nearly 250 of them over the past week.
“The notices started coming in during the last week of May. So far, nearly 250 of our well operators have received them. We are not carrying out a strike, but we are compelled to take our vehicles off the road because the notices state that if we continue operating without the required NOC, our equipment and vehicles will be seized,” Sharma said.
According to CGWA guidelines, a licence can be issued only if the well is situated on a land parcel measuring at least 200 square metres. The guidelines also restrict water filling from a well to a single tanker at a time. In addition, every well operator is required to install a flow meter to record water extraction.
MWTA representatives, however, said there is a shortage of such flow meters in Mumbai. They also argued that compliance with some of the conditions is difficult in a space-constrained city.
“After our well operators started receiving notices, we wrote to the Chief Minister and the Municipal Commissioner seeking a meeting so that an alternative solution could be worked out. However, we were not given an appointment. As a result, we are being forced to stop our services to avoid legal consequences,” Sharma said.
In Mumbai, tanker water is used not only by residential complexes but also for major infrastructure projects, including road concretisation works, Metro projects and the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project. Tanker water is also used for cleaning railway coaches, maintaining roads, gardens, banquet halls and commercial open spaces.
MWTA representatives said that if well operators are prevented from supplying water to tankers, several of these activities could be affected. Similar disruptions occurred in 2023 and 2025 when tanker strikes led to citywide water supply concerns.
Last year, a prolonged tanker strike prompted the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to invoke provisions of the Disaster Management Act, enabling it to take control of private water tankers. The strike was subsequently called off.
Following the agitation, state minister Ashish Shelar wrote to the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, urging it to revise the CGWA guidelines to better reflect the realities of Maharashtra and Mumbai. However, no such amendments have been made so far.
Depleting lake levels
According to BMC data, Mumbai’s combined water stock across the seven lakes currently stands at 14.92 per cent, or 2.01 lakh million litres, against a total storage capacity of 14.47 lakh million litres. These lakes are replenished during the monsoon and supply water to households and commercial establishments across the city.
Civic officials said that since the issue involves both the state government and the Union government, the BMC can act only within the framework of directions issued by them.
“If the government permits the BMC to invoke the Disaster Management Act and take over the tankers, we will do so. This is a sensitive situation because the city is already facing a water crisis. In such circumstances, disruptions of this nature cannot be taken lightly,” a senior civic official said.
Mumbai's private water tankers will go on an indefinite strike from midnight on June 7, threatening to worsen the city's 10% water cut. (File) 
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