Leaders ensure excessive distribution to their areas: BMC officials
MUMBAI: The 10 per cent water cut imposed on Mumbaikars till the end of this month was not because of water shortage or load-shedding, but because of excessive distribution of water forced by political leaders with vested interests, officials of the hydraulics department have claimed.
A senior official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) department said there were 800 valves to facilitate equitable distribution of water in the city. But political leaders, to appease their local votebank, forced department engineers to release water to their areas in excess of what was required. This was done by keeping the valve open for more time than stipulated by the BMC, he said.
Shiv Sena deputy leader Vinod Ghosalkar said he had many times forced hydraulic department officials to keep valves often for a long time. He said the collective failure of the department and the additional commissioner was to be blamed for water cuts.
Additional Municipal Commissioner Manu Kumar Srivastava admitted that the BMC had received many complaints about water distribution not being equitable.
Surprisingly, he and BMC Hydraulic Engineer Deepak Gajbaje did not make any mention of this to the BMC’s standing committee. They told the committee members that load-shedding at Pise Panjarapur plant and low pressure in the distribution system caused by low level of water in the various lakes that supply water to the city because of below-average rainfall during May-June had forced the water cut.
However, Maharashtra State Electricity Board’s chief public relations officer Ram Dutonde said load-shedding did not affect BMC’s water distribution system. A senior BMC official claimed that water level in the lakes was not a cause for concern.
Srivastava said the BMC had instructed the Hydraulics Department to ensure that the water limit of the valves was not exceeded. He said the BMC would heighten vigilance to crack down on misuse.
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