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Brace for curtailed water supply hours

Some households may get water for only 40 mins a day; it will be worse in high-lying areas.

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The civic body plans to implement its proposed 30% water cut in the city much like load shedding. While this may not mean much in areas which receive water for over three hours a day, the move is bound to wreak havoc in households that already receive water for less than 60 minutes.

Geeta Joshi, a resident of Girgaum in South Mumbai lives in one of them. Her house receives barely 45 minutes of water supply at present. “We get water at 4.30 am. By 5.15 am, the taps run dry.” Joshi, who resides in a chawl, says that all the members of her family, including the two school-going children, wake up before sun break for a shower. “All water-related chores, from bathing, washing of utensils and clothes, to filling up water has to be done in these 45 minutes,” she says.

The mad rush will only worsen for the family in the days to come, as supply timings will be further reduced. This means that many Mumbaikars will have to adjust their consumption time proportionally, a senior civic official said. “Your bathing, washing time will have to be reworked,” the official said.

The water distribution cycle in Mumbai is unequal. Water supply hours wary from 45 minutes to ten hours, depending on the network density. The civic administration has proposed steeper cuts in water supply (a 15 % cut is already in effect) to ensure there is sufficient water in the reservoirs to last until the next monsoon. The civic body has now proposed to introduce up to a 30 % supply-hour cut. The proposal will be put before the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) group of leaders on October 27.

A 30% supply-hour cut will mean that the city will receive water for 30% lesser time. For instance, western suburban areas from Bandra to Dahisar, which get a three-hour supply on an average at present, will now receive water for 2 hours and 10 minutes. Similarly, parts which get water for two hours currently will get water for an hour and a half after the cuts are introduced.

Even though the BMC has planned to be a bit more lenient towards under-privileged areas which receive water for an hour or so, and keep the cut at 20%, households there might well get water for less than 40 minutes now.

The pinch will be more acute in high-lying areas and those at the fag end of the network, a hydraulic department official said.
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