Even as the proposal for installing prepaid water meters in post-95 slums in the city was being discussed in the standing committee on Friday, water activists staged a protest at the Azad Maidan in front of the civic headquarters.
The protest, held under the banner of the Paani Hakk Abhiyaan — a coalition of various city-based organisations fighting for the protection of water rights — the protests saw women from the slums in Dharavi and Mankhurd hold placards demanding a rejection of the prepaid water meter proposals and provision of water to these slumdwellers using regular post paid connections.
Afsar Jafri, one of the organisers, said, “At a public consultation meeting last month, mayor Shubha Raul had publicly assured the concerned citizens that prepaid connections will not be allowed. However, the civic administration is now pushing the proposal in undemocratic and autocratic fashion, making a mockery of the views expressed by people during the consultation.”
He added, “The proposal, if passed will mean denial of water to all those who cannot buy the recharge coupons. This is an illegal exercise of control over water and breaches the right of access to water.”
The protestors claimed that the civic body appears to have turned a blind eye to the dangerous fallouts of the prepaid meter connections in countries on the African continent and even developed cities like London in the early 1990s.
“Developed countries like US and UK had to dismantle the idea due to public health reasons. The UK Water Act of 1998 even outlawed use of any device that cuts off customer’s supply due to insufficient credit,”said Jafri.
