Mayor to meet CM on water supply to MBMC

MUMBAI, MARCH 24: The Mayor-in-Council meeting today failed to take up State rural development minister Anna Dange's proposal to supply f...

MUMBAI, MARCH 24: The Mayor-in-Council meeting today failed to take up State rural development minister Anna Dange8217;s proposal to supply five million litres of water a day MLD to the Mira-Bhayander Municipal Council MBMC. Mayor Nandu Satam told the press that he would personally meet Chief Minister Narayan Rane and then take a decision on the issue. Though Satam did not clearly specify whether he was opposed to the move, he held that if Mira-Bhayandar were provided water, other councils facing shortage would make similar demands on the corporation.

8220;Providing water to Mira-Bhayandar could set a trend with people resorting to violence on the streets and the BMC supplying water to them,8221; said Satam, adding that the interests of Mumbaiites will have to be taken into consideration before a decision is made.

Satam informed that MBMC had not paid the BMC Rs 10 lakh for the water supplied immediately after the agitation was sparked off. In the first three days, BMC supplied four lakh litres, and since then,six lakh litres is being supplied to the township everyday from the Borivli reservoir, he informed. According to Satam, if the MBMC was supplied 5 MLD, it would have to pay BMC Rs 54 lakh annually, which it may not be able to cough up as it has not made any budgetary provisions for water.

The Mayor would also discuss the route through which the water will be supplied with the CM. While the MBMC has asked for water supply from Borivli, this would imply that residents of P and R wards extending from Goregaon to Dahisar would suffer, said Satam, adding that he wants the water to be diverted from Thane directly.

In another decision, the MiC today bifurcated R-north ward comprising Borivli west and Dahisar west. It will now be known as R-central Borivli and R-north Dahisar. With this, the number of wards has now increased to 24. The bifurcation proposal had been passed at a group leaders8217; meeting in May 1996.

The Dahisar office will be situated under the new Dahisar flyover. Ward officers are to beappointed soon. The expense of setting up the two offices will be 8211; Rs 25 lakh furniture, Rs 1.60 crore establishment costs, Rs 16 lakh electricity works.