A day after the Mumbai Water Tanker Association (MWTA) launched an indefinite strike, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday deferred the terms of its notification to the owners of borewells and ring well operators until June 15.
The decision to stay its notice until the next two months came along the heels of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ decision earlier in the day to find a resolution for the concerns flagged by the water tanker drivers across Mumbai amid burgeoning water crisis across the city. However, the MWTA maintained that their strike is here to stay and will not be revoked, leaving the city mired with its ongoing water crisis.
Earlier on Thursday, the Mumbai Water Tanker Association (MWTA) went on an indefinite strike, which triggered a water crisis in several areas which depend on water tankers for their daily supply of water. The MWTA’s move came after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) started issuing notices to several owners and operators of ring-well and borewells asking them to either cease supply of water to tankers or obtain a fresh license from the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA).
As several pockets of the city reeled under a water crisis, the union minister for Jal Shakti ministry, C R Patil on Friday convened a meeting with the representatives of the MWTA as well as the CGWA authorities, wherein the grievances of the tanker owners were discussed. Following the meeting, minister Patil directed the CGWA to streamline the process of obtaining NOCs and making the facility more accessible.
Even so, the MWTA representatives said that with the clauses of their demands remaining unfilled, they will not revoke their strike. “We will not be cancelling our strike and our services are still suspended. Despite our meeting, none of our demands have been met with. Until our demand clauses remain unfulfilled, we will not cancel our strike. Our services will also remain suspended until we have a meeting with the Chief Minister,” Ankur Sharma, spokesperson of the MWTA told The Indian Express.
For the record, the BMC had been issuing notices over the past few weeks in view of the latest CGWA guidelines which stipulated that a license would be issued to a well owner only if the well is situated on a land parcel having a minimum size of 200 square meters. Besides this, the guidelines also limit the number of tankers that can fill water from a well to a single tanker. Furthermore, it also mandates that every well operator needs to set up a flow meter for recording the flow of water.
However, protesting against these clauses, MWTA representatives have also maintained that in Mumbai there is a crisis in availability of such flow meters.
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Meanwhile, following the meeting, CM Fadnavis also directed the civic body to resolve the demands in a bid to prevent any water shortage during summers, when the city is prone to experience water cut. In view of the meeting and the directives, BMC chief Bhushan Gagrani on Friday evening issued a stay on the civic notice, extending it until June 15. Earlier on Thursday, leaders from the state government including Ashish Shelar – Maharashtra’s minister for information technology and cultural affairs – wrote to the Jal Shaki ministry, seeking their intervention into the matter.
In Mumbai, tankers supply water between 200 million liters daily (MLD) and 2,000 MLD to various residential, industrial and commercial units. These tankers extract water from wells which are owned by private parties. Besides catering to residential buildings, these tankers also supply water for ongoing infrastructure works like the road concretisation, coastal road project, metro works, bullet train project. Besides this, the tanker water is also being used for other important purposes like cleaning of railway coaches, maintenance of public roads, laws and gardens, maintenance of banquet halls and commercial public spaces like lawns.