In view of the worsening water crisis, the mayor will be issuing a circular directing ward officers to repair leaking pipelines within 48 hours of a complaint being lodged.
To tackle the severe crisis in the city caused by leaking pipelines and theft of water, the BMC has decided to crack down on water thieves as well as the concerned civic officials.
The municipal commissioner Swadhin Kshatriya will be issuing a circular to all the wards asking them to fix the leaks on water pipelines within 48 hours of the discovery of leakage or theft from a pipeline.
If the officer of the hydraulic department in the concerned ward fails
to take appropriate action, he could be suspended.
Mayor Shraddha Jadhav visited Wadi Bunder on P D’Mello Road, where she found that the water pipelines had been punctured and slum-dwellers were using the water from the leaking pipeline.
“The pipeline was tampered with and the slum dwellers living nearby were using the water. After taking water from the tampered line, they keep the line running, causing wastage of thousands of liters of water every day,” Jadhav said.
Subsequently, Jadhav raised the issue in a meeting of leaders from all the parties at the BMC headquarters in Fort. All the party leaders who were present at the meeting blamed the administration, accusing it of not being serious about tackling water wastage. “The officers did not repair the leakages immediately, as a result of which our water woes are worsening.
This casual attitude of the administration will lead to disaster if there is a delay in the monsoons,” said the Shiv Sena leader in the BMC, Sunil Prabhu.
“If the civic officials want police protection to take action against the water mafia, then the municipal commissioner can talk to the police commissioner regarding such protection,” Prabhu added.
Ashish Shelar, BJP leader in the BMC said, “If the citizens complain about water theft or leakages, the concerned ward officer has to look into the complaint. If that doesn’t happen, then such callous officers should be punished.”
Also discussed in the meeting was the case of the underground tunnel in Malad which had gotten punctured while a resident was digging a bore well for water. The leaking tunnel is responsible for wasting 3 lakh litres of water everyday. The mayor directed the administration to complete the repairing of the Malad tunnel at
the earliest.
“Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) has constructed the tunnel and the same company will repair it using German technology with the help of the civic engineer’s team,” said a civic official.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}