‘Clean drinking water, sewerage top priority’

Phatak says he is doing his best to prepare Mumbai for the rains

Even as he prepares to fight the rains, Mumbai’s new Municipal Commissioner Jairaj Phatak is clear that he wants to improve the supply of drinking water across the city.

Speaking at a function organised by Mumbai Grahak Panchayat — India’s largest consumer body — to felicitate him on Sunday, Phatak listed the priorities of India’s richest civic body. “Providing clean drinking water to all in the city is our most important task,” Phatak said, adding that it would take three to four years for the Middle Vaitarna.

Next on the list, the Commissioner said, is improving the city’s sewerage infrastructure. Presently, about 60 per cent of the population have sewerage connections. “This is one area where we lag behind other cities,” Phatak said.  The issue is being addressed as a part of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. “As sewerage improves, the spread of water-borne diseases will reduce,” the civic chief noted.

With the rains fast approaching, Phatak made no bones of the fact that the monsoon was going to be a stern test for his department. “I can’t control the rains, but I am doing my best to prepare Mumbai for them,” he said. The Brihanmumbai Storm Water Drain (BRIMSTOWAD) project, Phatak said, “is crucial for Mumbai and it will take three to four years for it to be complete”.

Having served as the Principal Secretary in the state’s Department of Urban Development, Phatak said land prices will stabilise once the Metro Rail project and the Sewri-Nhava Sheva link is complete. “Being an island city, Mumbai has only 30 degree scope for expansion unlike, say, a city like New Delhi, which can expand 360 degrees or Chennai, which can expand 180 degrees,” Phatak said, explaining the exorbitant real estate rates. “That’s why rates in the best areas in Chennai are at par with those at Bhandup,” he observed.

His vision for the future also included added Floor Space Index (FSI). “It’s difficult to hike FSI till the Metro Rail is complete. Once it’s up and running, we will be able release more FSI,” said Phatak. On a cautionary note, the 1978 batch IAS officer stated that though the BMC is working hard to provide better services, it would be unfair to expect radical changes overnight.