The Brihanmumbai Municipal Company (BMC) has issued notices to a number of house owners of ring-well and borewell in Mumbai over the previous few weeks asking them to both shut them or acquire an operational no-objection-certificate (NOC) from the Union ministry’s Central Floor Water Authority (CGWA) for sustaining the wells.
These wells are used as a supply for extracting groundwater which is equipped throughout town by way of water tankers.
Earlier in 2023, an analogous transfer of the civic physique triggered a man-made water disaster with members of the Mumbai Water Tankers Affiliation (MWTA) happening a flash strike — crippling the complete metropolis of Mumbai.
The notices that have been served by the pest management officers of the BMC’s ward places of work to the house owners of ring-wells directs them to cease supplying water to water tankers. Some letters additionally said that these wells are performing as breeding hotspots for mosquitoes.
In a single such letter issued to a nicely proprietor by BMC’s A ward (Colaba, Nariman Level, Navy Nagar) ward, the pest management officer stated, “Inside seven days the proprietor has to dismantle all of the pipes and fittings related to the ring-well and refill with good earth as much as the encircling floor degree in order that there’s no despair prone to maintain water and mosquitoes there.”
One other letter despatched by the pest management officer from BMC’s Okay/East (Andheri East) ward to a nicely proprietor learn, “The nicely within the given tackle is getting used for supplying groundwater to the tankers. This exercise is an infringement and you’re hereby directed to instantly cease provide of water to personal tankers from the stated nicely failing to which permission for sustaining the nicely will likely be revoked and legislative motion will likely be initiated.”
The notices additionally mandated the house owners to use for a recent licence to the CGWA in an effort to qualify as water supplying companies.
Story continues beneath this advert
In the meantime, members of the MWTA have stated that that is an strategy in the direction of jeopardising the enterprise of tankers in Mumbai.
“The CGWA guidelines are legitimate for potable water solely, however in Mumbai, we solely provide non-potable water from our tankers which can be used for business and industrial functions. In 2023, we had instructed the administration that sure pointers of the CGWA don’t stand relevant in Mumbai, but they’re implementing it on us,” Ankur Sharma, spokesperson of MWTA instructed The Indian Categorical on Friday.
In keeping with the CGWA pointers a licence can be issued to a nicely proprietor provided that the nicely is located on a land parcel having a minimal dimension of 200 sqm. Moreover this, the rule of thumb additionally limits the variety of tankers that may fill water from a nicely to a single tanker. Moreover this, the brand new pointers additionally mandate that each nicely operator must arrange a stream meter for recording the stream of water.
“For a metropolis as densely populated as Mumbai it’s not possible to have a land parcel that’s 200 sqm in dimension. Along with this, there isn’t any provider of the stream meter in Mumbai that’s mandated within the guideline. At current, Mumbai is witnessing infrastructure initiatives like metro rail, coastal street, street concretising and bullet prepare and all of them are depending on tanker waters. Moreover this our water is equipped to railways for cleansing the trains, banquet halls and in different business entities as nicely. Due to this fact, if the authorities cease us from extracting water from the wells, the complete metropolis will take successful,” Sharma stated.
Story continues beneath this advert
In the meantime, when contacted a civic official stated, “There are various societies the place nicely water is being equipped by way of tankers. These societies use the water for potable functions. Although they (MWTA) preserve that they provide solely non-potable water, then why do they take up orders from housing societies? For these particular circumstances new licences wanted to be CGWA following due course of.”
In 2023, after the civic authorities issued related notices, the MWTA went on a flash strike for 5 days that hit Mumbai’s non potable water by a big margin. At current there are 1,800 tankers registered underneath MWTA which provide upto 200 MLD to 2,000 MLD water each day relying on the demand.
