Mumbai: Only one of the 24 wards in Mumbai gets round-the-clock water supply, while the average supply is just 5.37 hours per day despite the project launched in 2014 for uninterrupted water supply in 2014. Mumbai faced 15 percent water shortage in 2024 – the supply was 3,975 MLD, as against the total demand of 4,664 MLD.
While non-slum areas received 135 liters per person per day (LPCD) water, slum areas received only 45 LPCDs through meter connections. In addition, most slum populations depend on water tankers and other sources for water for water. It costs more than Rs 700 per month compared to Rs 25 per month for non-slum homes in 2024.
This was unveiled at its annual meeting at the Mumbai Press Club on Tuesday in the report of the non-profit Praja Foundation ‘status of civil issues in Mumbai’. The meeting focuses on water, sewerage, solid waste management, toilets and air quality in the city.
Show full article
“Mumbai’s water supply struggles with important inequalities among the available water resources and how they are distributed throughout the city. Despite the guidelines set by the ministry of 135 LPCDs of water and the guidelines set by the Ministry of Urban Affairs, the slum house depends on the additional water sources for 90 LPCDs,” said the CEO of Milind Mhasse.
The report stated that the water supply in Mumbai is 3,975 MLD, compared to the demand of 4,664 MLD compared to the demand of 689 MLD.
The report of the Praja Foundation also outlined a spike in pollution levels in the Mithi River of Mumbai. The level of organic oxygen demand (BOD) in the river was 210 mg/L in 2023, compared to 80 mg/L in 2023. BOD is a remedy that shows the level of water pollution.
The higher the BOD level, the higher pollution in the water.
Between 2020 and 2024, complaints related to waterborne diseases in the city increased by 52 percent.
The report further found that more rich wards of the city generated the highest per capita waste compared to suburban wards in 2024. According to a response received by the Praja Foundation under the Right of Information (RTI), the waste collected from all wards was at 24,37,420 MT last year.
Speaking at the event, the manager, manager, Sris Chorgi, the manager of the research and analysis of the Praja Foundation, said that waste management complaints in the city had increased by 380 percent since 2015, while Mahske said that the Bombay High Court had directed the civilian officials to find other dumping grounds other than Kanjurmag, where most of the waste are.
The report said that the Mumbai civic body can save Rs 1,485 crore annually with a decentralized solid waste management system, focusing on the processing of waste through community-based waste management facilities. Such a system handles waste, manure and recycling of waste at source.
MHASKE also stated that Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had obstacles with civil data obtained through the RTI, the data of the Environment Status Report (ESR) annually by Municipal Corporation. “ESR is an important tool that should be used for the betterment of civil issues in the city, and in the absence of elected representatives, administrators need to be more cautious about these concerns,” he said.
Public toilet status
The status of public toilets in the city also portrayed a strict picture. For every four public toilet seats in 2024, only one was for women, according to the RTI data accessed by the subjects.
Out of 6,800 public toilets in the Mumbai metropolitan region, only 2,973 are functional, while 3,827 have power and water scarcity. 69 percent of the community toilet blocks lack water connections, and 60 percent lack electricity connections. In 2023, against the Swachh Bharat Mission criteria of a community toilet seat for each 35 male users and 25 female users, one seat was available for 86 men and one for 81 women.
According to Chorgi, last year, 1.15 lakh complaints were received on the Centralized Complaint Registration System (CCRS) of Mumbai related to water, waste, sewage, pollution and toilets. This was an increase of 70 percent from 2015.
CCRS helps in trekking and complaint resolutions by BMC. “To strengthen service distribution, BMC must improve CCR by ensuring timely grievances, and introduce a civil response system to more accountability for democratic empowerment according to the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act,” Mahssey said.
Pooja Bhatia is a trainee with a trainee.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also read: The houses of Mumbai are making a huge mess. More than 2,000 buildings are being torn up, back