Damaged pipelines, water cut leave Mumbaikars dependent on tankers, overall scarcity 50% in some areas

Several residents living in the island city as well as in the suburbs have now become dependent on water tankers for their daily supply of water.

Former Bandra Congress corporator Asif Zakaria said that elevated areas like Pali Hill have been facing low water pressure for some time.

“For the past three days, almost all the residents living in Mumbai have become dependent on water tankers. Even though the official water cut is 15 per cent, the overall scarcity appears to be 50 per cent and the BMC does not have adequate tankers to cater to the people living in this area,” said Zakaria.

Andheri resident Dhaval Shah said that the crisis has been there for more than a week now.

“Almost all the residents in Andheri have become dependent on water tankers. There is a crisis for not only non-potable water but for potable water also. This kind of incident has become a regular phenomenon now,” he said.

Ashok Gupta, vice president of Marine Drive Citizen’s Association (MDCA), said that for nearly three days now, almost all Mumbai residents have become dependent on tankers.

“Most of the residential buildings in Marine Drive are not getting water. We are getting water through tankers, which is costing us around Rs 1,500 for approximately 10,000 litre. However, taking water from tankers is severely inconvenient as most of the residents here are senior citizens, and are in self-isolation due to the Covid-19 surge,” he said.

Meanwhile, civic officials said that the situation would improve by Wednesday night.

“The repair works are currently ongoing… the situation may improve from Wednesday night,” said an official.