Only 1 of Mumbai's 24 wards gets round-the-clock water supply—Praja Foundation report
While non-slum areas received 135 litres per capita per day (lpcd) of water, slum areas received only 45 lpcd through metered connections. Further, most slum populations rely on water tankers and other sources for water instead of metered water. This cost them more than Rs 700 per month compared to Rs 25 per month for non-slum households in 2024.
Mumbai: Only one of 24 wards in Mumbai receives round-the-clock water supply, while average supply is just 5.37 hours per day despite a project launched in 2014 for uninterrupted water supply. Mumbai faced a 15 percent water shortage in 2024—the supply was 3,975 MLD, as against the total demand of 4,664 MLD.
'Mumbai's water supply struggles with significant disparities between the available water resources and how they are distributed throughout the city. Despite the guidelines prescribed by the ministry of housing and urban affairs of 135 lpcd of water, slum households depend on additional water sources for 90 lpcd,' Milind Mhaske, CEO of Praja Foundation, said.
The report highlighted that water supply in Mumbai stands at 3,975 MLD, compared to its demand of 4,664 MLD, resulting in supply shortage of 689 MLD.
The Praja Foundation report also underlined a spike in pollution levels in Mumbai's Mithi river. Biological oxygen demand (BOD) levels in the river stood at 210 mg/l in 2023, compared to 80 mg/l in 2022. BOD is a measure that states levels of water pollution.
The higher the BOD level, more the pollution in the water.
Between 2020 and 2024, complaints linked to waterborne diseases in the city rose by 52 percent.
The report further found that the city's more affluent wards generated the highest per capita waste in 2024 compared to suburban wards. According to a response received under Right to Information (RTI) by Praja Foundation, waste collected from all wards stood at 24,37,420 metric tonnes last year.
Speaking at the event, Shreyas Chorgi, Manager, Research and Analysis, Praja Foundation, said waste management complaints in the city have surged by 380 percent since 2015, while Mhaske pointed out that the Bombay High Court had directed civic officials to look for a dumping ground other than Kanjurmarg, where most of the waste is dumped.
The report noted that the Mumbai civic body can save Rs 1,485 crore annually with a decentralised solid waste management system, focusing on localising waste processing through community-based waste management facilities. Such a system handles segregation, composting, and recycling of waste at the source.
Mhaske also said data from the Environment Status Report (ESR) released annually by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation was at odds with the civic data they had got via RTI. 'ESR is an important tool that needs to be used for the betterment of civic issues in the city, and in the absence of elected representatives, administrators need to be more vigilant about these concerns,' he said.
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Status of public toilets
The status of public toilets in the city also painted a dire picture. For every four public toilet seats in 2024, only one was for women, according to RTI data accessed by Praja.
Of the 6,800 public toilets in the Mumbai Metropolitan Area, only 2,973 are functional, while 3,827 lack electricity and water. As many as 69 percent of community toilet blocks lack water connections, and 60 percent lack electricity connections. In 2023, against the Swachh Bharat Mission norm of one community toilet seat for every 35 male users and 25 female users, one seat was available for 86 men and one for 81 women.
According to Chorgi, 1.15 lakh complaints were received on Mumbai's Centralised Complaint Registration System (CCRS) last year relating to water, waste, sewage, pollution and toilets. This was an increase of 70 percent from 2015.
The CCRS helps in tracking and complaint resolution by the BMC. 'To strengthen service delivery, BMC must improve CCRS by ensuring timely complaint redressal, and introduce a citizen feedback system for greater accountability for democratic empowerment as per the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act,' Mhaske said.
Pooja Bhatia is an intern with ThePrint.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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