21-05-2025
9% of city's water supply is lost, one toilet seat per 1,820 women: Report
MUMBAI: The city experienced a 15% shortfall in its water supply in 2024, due in part to a 9% loss of water while being transported from the catchment areas. The shortfall in supply hit slum communities most.
These and other details of faltering civic services provided by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the country's wealthiest civic body, emerged in Praja Foundation's 'The Status of Civic Issues in Mumbai' report, its annual report on civic amenities, released on Tuesday.
Here's a summary of the report:
Water Supply
Mumbai's shortfall in water supply amounts to 15%. While it receives 4,370 MLD (million liters a day), 395 MLD is lost due to evaporation and leaks. These losses, called non-revenue water (NRW), constitute a colossal 9% of the water routed towards the city from the catchment areas.
In terms of shortfall, the 689-MLD deficit is borne largely by the city's slum population. Non-slum homes typically receive 135 lpcd (litres per capita daily) as per central guidelines, while slum homes get 45 lpcd. This adds to the slums' expenditure on water – if they supplement the entire deficit with tankers – to ₹736 per month, compared to the usual ₹25 per month.
Also, only 8% of Mumbai's population receives 24/7 water supply.
Despite the grim statistics, there is a silver lining – Mumbai scores in water quality, with only 0.33% of water samples unfit for drinking.
Sewerage
Mumbai's new sewerage treatment plants (STP) are in various stages of construction, leaving current sewerage treatment levels well below acceptable standards. The situation in 2024 was especially alarming. The additional two STPs, at Bandra and Worli, failed to adequately treat sewage according to pollution norms set by the centre and state, in contrast with their track records in previous years due to ongoing upgrades. They mirrored the dismal records of wastewater treatment at STPs in Versova, Bhandup, Malad and Ghatkopar. The only exceptions were the STPs at Colaba and Charkop, treating Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Total Suspended Solids (TSS) adequately.
Unsurprisingly, this led to highly polluted water bodies. The Mithi River was worst hit, with a maximum level of fecal coliform of 540,000 MNP per 100ml in 2023, against an acceptable limit of 2,500MPN/100ml.
Solid Waste Management
Mumbai continues to generate increasing amounts of solid waste. RTI data reveals that it generated 6,656 MTD (million tonnes per day) in 2024, a 1% increase from 2023, and 4% from 2022.
Most of this garbage – 4,832 MTD – is food waste, followed by construction and demolition waste. Civic wards which generated the most trash were Ward A (Churchgate, Colaba), Ward C (Kalbadevi), and Ward H/West (Bandra and Khar West). Conversely, Wards R/South (Kandivali), R/North (Dahisar) and D (Grant Road, Malabar Hills) generated the least garbage.
Despite rules mandating that wet waste be treated on site, 64% of bulk waste generators (BWG) in 2024 failed to do so.
With a largely centralised model of waste-processing in place – most of the city's waste is dumped at Kanjurmarg and Deonar – much is spent on the transportation, from home to refuse transfer station (RTS), to dump. In 2024, Praja estimated this added up to around ₹883 crore per year.
To operate the waste processing site at Kanjurmarg, the BMC spends another ₹602 crore per year.
The closed landfill at Mulund is undergoing biomining – 62% of the legacy waste has been disposed of from October 2019 to December 2024, but with a deadline of June 2025, the target is very likely to be breached.
Public Toilets
The number of public and community toilet seats remained inadequate in 2024, doubly so for women. One in four public toilet seats in 2024 were for women, making one seat available per 1,820 women. On contrast, one seat was shared between 752 men.
With regard to community toilets shared by slum settlements in 2023, one toilet seat was shared between 202 men and one between 164 women, far higher than the prescribed norm to have one community toilet for 35 men and 25 women. However, 60% of them lacked electricity and 69% water connections.
Air Quality
In 2024, the average air quality index (AQI) in Mumbai was better than in previous years. Only four months – January, February, November and December – had overall AQI in the moderate category, as opposed to six in 2023.
Complaints
Citizens' complaints poured in from all corners in 2024, reaching 115,396. This was a decrease from the previous year's 120,296. Issues concerning solid waste, air pollution, toilets and water supply saw the greatest increase in complaints.
Vacancies
The civic body has a 41% vacancy in sanctioned posts: Departments of education (59%) storm water drains (57%), Roads & Traffic (54%) and solid waste management (17%).
