The state government will take strict action against tankers, if they are found selling drinking water illegally in Mumbai, said Ranjeet Patil, minister of state home (urban) in the state Legislative Council on Monday.
Speaking on the issue, Mr Patil said tankers are not allowed to sell drinking water. They can be used for supplying only non-drinking water. A committee of civic health and water distribution department will be formed to find out tankers supplying potable water in the city and action will be taken against them. Civic officials will also not be spared if they are found supporting these tankers.
The issue was raised by BJP legislator Bhai Girkar, who said that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has failed to curb leakage problems in Mumbai. “About 700 million litres (ml) of water is wasted daily due to leakages, whereas 160 million litres is pilfered by the tanker lobby. The tankers mafia is also causing huge loss to government revenues by stealing water and selling it in the city,” he said.
Replying to him, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said in his reply, “In Mumbai, tankers are used to supply water for non-drinking purposes. But, they are not authorised by the BMC. These tankers are being filled from wells or borewells. Whenever there are water cuts or supply is affected in a particular area, then water is supplied there from municipal or private tankers with the BMC’s permission. In addition to this, if a society makes a written demand, the BMC allows filling of private tankers by charging water charges. In Mumbai, there are 18 tanker-filling centres, from which tankers are supplied water in case of emergency.”
The government accepted that there are 27 per cent leakages in Mumbai due to various reasons like leakages, illegal connections, pilferage, discrepancy in water meters etc. “In Mumbai, there are 3.70 lakh metered water connections, of which about one lakh are without meters. The majority of them are in island city, which have old water connections,” said Mr Patil. To curb leakages, leak detection units have been formed in 18 wards in the city, whereas such units will be formed in six more wards soon. In 2015, 39,956 leakages were found in the city, he added.
