Mumbai: Taps run dry in posh Ghatkopar society

Wealthy residents of The Orchard Residency in Ghatkopar have spent Rs 40 lakh on tankers and bottled water since July because the BMC has failed to provide adequate supply to the societyrsquos 550 flats ldquoWater is being illegally supplied to nearby slum pockets in Parksite insteadrdquo alleged one of the residentsA team from midday visited The Orchard Residency in Ghatkopar West on Wednesday and spoke to residents as well as committee members who said the junior engineer at N ward always blames pipeline damage for poor supply However BMCrsquos water helpline says there is no issue in the area they added Even a senior civic official told midday that there is no damage in the pipelineldquoUntil June last year we used to get 4 lakh litres of water between 6 pm and 11 pm daily with ideal water pressure But we started facing acute shortage of water in July 2022 Since then we have been getting supply for hardly an hour in the evenings and the pressure is low Hence the society has to purchase water from outside for bathing and washing purposes and on top of that we have to buy packaged water for drinking and cooking purposesrdquo Smeeta Narayan a member of the society committee saidAlso Read Kandivli playschool abuse Bail rejected teachers lsquoabscondingrsquoAnother committee member Cheryll Pereira said ldquoWe need at least 4 lakh litre of water every day to meet the demands of the society but the BMC has been supplying only 12 litres per day On some days we get 90000 litres a day How could we have survived with so little waterrdquoDamaged or notldquoWe have been making rounds of the BMCrsquos N ward office since July and junior engineer Amruta Wagh always gives one reason pipeline burst I am wondering why it has not been repaired yetrdquo Pereira asked Narayan added ldquoWhen we call the water helpline number of the BMC to inquire about the reason behind the dire shortage of water to our society we are told there are no issues In that case we would want to know where our share of water is goingrdquo Pereira said ldquoThe BMC is the richest as well as the most corrupt municipal corporation in Asia Our water is being illegally supplied to the nearby slum in Parksite VikhrolirdquoA view of Vikhroli Parksite slum from The Orchard Residency Residents allege water meant for them is being illegally diverted to these shantiesAsked to get tankerVandana Vaidya a resident said ldquoWagh told us that they have sufficient water but we need to send tankers to fetch it to our society She said she can provide 70000 litre of water daily How and why should we Instead of getting the water pipeline repaired why is a civic official making such an insensitive remarkrdquo Pereira who was browsing through the society files pointed to a document and said ldquoBetween July and today we have paid Rs 3638 lakh to private suppliers of water through tankers On top of that residents have been purchasing bottled water for drinking purposesrdquoWill BMC compensate usldquoIf the municipal corporation canrsquot give us water even after being paid all the taxes will they compensate for our expenses so farrdquo Pereira asked Supporting the demand for compensation another resident Mitesh Trivedi said ldquoOur society has spent a huge amount in just nine months which is only for bathing and washing purposesrdquo There are 550 flats in The Orchard ResidencyldquoMost of the officegoers have to leave home early in the morning without taking a shower as there is inadequate supply from the BMCrdquo said Deepali Rathod another resident Her neighbour Shwetal Vasant ldquoThe tanker water leaves oilstain on utensils It is not good for health even for bathing So even on holidays we have to wake up our children early in the morning so that they can wash themselves while there is BMC supplyrdquoMembers of The Orchard Residency CHS committee on Wednesday PicsSatej ShindeldquoThe municipal corporation had announced that there will be a water cut of 15 per cent but we are getting only 15 per cent of BMCrsquos supply daily It has caused her great distressrdquo another resident Seema Meghani said ldquoIf the water pipeline is getting damaged so frequently as Wagh claims then why is BMC not supplying to us directly from Powairdquo she askedPoor water qualityResidents said the poor quality of tanker water is damaging their expensive kitchen items fixtures and RO machines water filters ldquoMy RO machine got damaged and we cannot get it repaired as the repair cost is almost onethird of its actual price We already had it repaired once for which we paid Rs 6000 Now the mechanic is recommending we buy a new one and said that the tanker water is damaging the machinerdquo said VaidyaAnother resident Bhanushali Dinesh said ldquoI drank the tanker water near our clubhouse one day and it upset my stomach So we have been buying packaged water for drinking purposesrdquo To which Trivedi added ldquoSometimes we struggle to find packaged water in shops as everyone from the society is buying bottles Seeing the sheer shortage shop owners overcharge us Considering the situation we are in we have no option but to pay extrardquoCheryll Pereira member society committeeAmit Lathiya the assistant of the society office said he has been visiting the N ward office daily ldquoBut we are not given any clear response as to when the issue will be resolved The tanker guy has also increased the price as they know that there is an urgent requirement in The Orchard Residency Earlier we used to buy 10000 litres of water for Rs 1900 but now we are paying nearly Rs 2500 for the same quantityrdquoNo compensation BMCAssistant Engineer of N ward Mahesh Pawar said ldquoEntire Mumbai is facing a water cut of 15 per cent which is the same for The Orchard Residency of Ghatkoparrdquo When asked if Rs 3638 lakh spent on tankers will be compensated by the BMC Pawar said ldquoNo why will our office compensate the billrdquo He added that there is no damage to the pipelineWhen asked about the daily needs of the society Pawar said ldquoI need to check the record Please visit my office with the society members and we will discuss the matter in detailrdquo He rubbished the allegation that the water is being illegally supplied to adjacent Parksite slum Junior engineer Wagh did not answer middayrsquos calls and messages for commentJulyMonth since society has been relying on tankers