BMC fails to plan for water crisis: Activists

MUMBAI: News of an impending water crisis the monsoon is delayed, has citizens questioning why the BMC fails to plan ahead though the city has faced similar situations in the last few years. While BMC officials said there is no need to panic yet, citizens argued such a situation would never arise if the civic body adopts measures to conserve water through the year.
Last week, at the BMC standing committee meet, corporators pointed out water in the seven lakes supplying water to the city was around 35,000 million litres less compared to the same time last year.
Anandini Thakoor, H-West Ward Federation chairperson said such a situation arises every year and the civic administration wakes up only when there is shortfall likely to be felt or has already set in. "The BMC should instead take measures to preserve water all through the year. Why do we depend on rain water to such a large extent? The BMC can undertake rain-water harvesting and other measures to eliminate panic even if there is a poor monsoon," said Thakoor.
The BMC has, on several occasions in the past, announced plans like rainwater harvesting, cloud-seeding or de-silting bore wells to improve water supply after poor rainfall in the catchment areas, but they are too late and too little.
Bandra corporator Asif Zakeria said the civic administration is known for knee-jerk reactions when there is an acute water problem in the city and everything is forgotten once the crisis is over. Kandivli corporator, Ramashish Gupta, said last November he had suggested that the BMC desilt the major lakes from where the city gets its water supply. "However, the administration informed me it was not financially viable."
Samajwadi Party leader in the BMC Rais Shaikh said, "Conservation of water in a city like Mumbai should start from January, it can't be done at the last minute."

It's a shame that a big city like Mumbai has to depend on the monsoon's vagaries for its supply of drinking water. The country's richest civic agency should find a permanent solution to this annual, pre-monsoon and post-monsoon worry. Waking up only when the problem is knocking at the door and then forgetting about it when the rains come shows a lack of commitment to the citizen's problems.