Mumbai Water Crisis: Tanker Strike Continues Despite BMC’s Notice Suspension

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has suspended for two months its earlier notice asking ring-well and borewell owners in the city to follow the 2020 guidelines issued by the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA), as reported by Hindustan Times (HT).

Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani made the announcement on Friday, saying, "We are suspending the notices for two months." This move came after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis contacted Gagrani and asked him to look into the matter. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Fadnavis said that summer had begun and some parts of Mumbai were already facing water shortages. "We have to find a solution," he added.

Photo Credit: PTI

However, despite the BMC's decision, the Mumbai Water Tankers Association (MWTA) has continued its strike. The association, which supplies water through private tankers across the city, had stopped services from Thursday, April 10 to protest the CGWA guidelines. "We do not want these rules to be applied even after two months, as they are impossible for us to follow," said MWTA spokesperson Ankur Sharma.

As a result of the strike, many people in Mumbai are struggling to get water. Areas that depend on tankers-especially slum pockets and localities with poor or no municipal water supply-have been badly affected.

For example, residents of Vijaydeep Building in Khar went without water for a full day after their pipeline was damaged during roadwork on Wednesday. "Since private tankers are on strike, we had to request help from the BMC office and finally got one tanker of drinking water," said local resident and activist Zoru Bathena.

The University of Mumbai's Kalina campus has also been affected. The campus has over 66 buildings, including hostels and homes for staff, and normally receives a large part of its daily two million litre water requirement from private tankers. On Friday, the supply completely stopped, and the boys' hostel mess had to shut down for a while. A university official said they were now using municipal water meant for administrative buildings to support hostels and residences over the weekend, and were looking at other backup options in case the strike continues.

The Mumbai Cricket Association, which runs a club in Bandra-Kurla Complex, has also shut its swimming pool for now. "We have water left for about one more day. We are cutting down on water use and taking precautions," said the club's president Ajay Desai.

Private water tankers usually get their supply from well-owners in the city. This business is currently unregulated. The 2020 guidelines from the CGWA require well-owners to install digital meters, send regular reports, and follow certain other rules.

While the BMC has put these rules on hold for now, the ongoing strike is causing serious problems across the city, and many are waiting for a quick resolution.