Water water everywhere but not enough to drink–that is world-class Mumbai for you

Remember, Mumbai is located on the shores of the Arabian Sea.

But here is a fact to chew on. When 2,000 licensed water tankers that ply Mumbai city – not the metropolitan region – streets and ferry water from wells to the thirsty population, went on strike for three days, there was, as media reports said, “a crisis”. This amplifies the fact that the country’s richest civic body falls short on one aspect: giving its residents water.

Mumbai city, which has an annual budget exceeding Rs 5,000 crore and a population close to one crore, is not alone. Other cities, actually towns in comparison to Mumbai, also have this major shortcoming. Aurangabad, recently renamed Sambhajinagar, has a municipal water supply once in about two weeks. There was a time when Manmad got water only once a month.

This serious mismatch between demand and supply is a starkly negative feature of urban life. The likely resolution is far away. The problem is gigantic; it has not been easy to provide potable water to the population. When untreated water by tankers is a reality in Mumbai, an aspirant city wanting to be a global city, imagine how it would be elsewhere.

Unplanned development

Rapid urbanisation without adequate water sources is one cause, unplanned development, poor planning, or poor finances, one or all together, are the reasons for the proliferation of dry taps at homes. This makes for urban governance across towns and cities. We are keeping the issues of rural India aside for once. It could be graver there. But historically, cities are said to be getting the best attention.

Let us stay with Mumbai, the sea-locked city. It needs an estimated 4,200 million liters per day (MLD), assuming this is by reckoning the entire population. It can supply 3,850 MLD. But probably depending on the season, the tanks provide 200 to 2,000 MLD. Which makes the city hall a poor performer. That is something not to gloat about.

Warnings work

So much so, the city’s civic commissioner had to summon the water tanker operators to restart supplies or face dire consequences. By law, the well and borewell owners should have 200 square metres of vacant land around the source, primarily for recharge, because it is poor due to the concreting all around. Any excess extraction can, and probably has, brought about ingress of salinity. What is sold could later be worse.

The cited statistics reveal how the water tanker business has Mumbai by the scruff of its neck. Most of the slum population, a large number of housing societies, and industries are dependent on these suppliers. The crisis triggered by them did have a large dimension for the civic body to respond with threats within three days of the strike to protest the 200 square metre rule.

The water supply in this city, aspiring to be world class has, on average, between 45 and 230 litres per capita per day. Though bath tubs are banned, the elite areas, compared to slums and lower-middle-class habitats, have better access to this elixir. The poorer the area, the smaller the homes. The smaller they are, the more space is devoted to the storage of water. Not all homes can get it 24×7. A universal and equitable water supply has been elusive.

Silence of the media

Throughout this entire narrative, which unfolded over four to five days, the media have not reported on the issues with the quality of the water. It is taken for granted that the tanker water is potable, but what is its pH level? Is it free of E. coli? The annual environmental assessment reports of civic bodies, in rare candour, do admit to contamination in treated water in the carrier lines, up to a percentage of all water. Tankers only supply untreated water.

Isn’t it why most urban middle-class homes have water purifiers in their kitchens? A whole industry, variously estimated to be worth $1.5 billion to $2 billion in size, serves India by mitigating fears of consuming impure water and the adverse health consequences. Back in 2012, Thane municipality, neighbouring Mumbai, entered a mea culpa: they installed water purifiers in their civic-run schools. They didn’t trust their water.

Get the latest updates in , , , , and on & by subscribing to our channels. You can also download our app for and .