Mumbai, Apr 13 (UNI) The Brihanmumbai Municipal Commissioner (BMC) has taken over all operations of water tankers and borewells under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 following indefinite strike of Mumbai Water Tankers Association (MWTA), which supplies non-potable water in housing societies and other establishments in metropolis, official sources said here on Sunday.
According to the sources, the BMC has designed a standard operating procedure (SOP) to supply water to housing societies and other entities.
A team at the BMC ward level in coordination with Mumbai Police and Transport commissioner will facilitate water supply through tankers.
It may be recalled that MWTA is on indefinite strike, protesting against the Central Ground Water Authority’s (CGWA) directive mandating licences for groundwater extraction.
In a notice issued by the BMC, the private ring well and borewell owners were asked to stop supplying water to tankers and obtain a fresh licence from the CGWA till the BMC revokes its directive on groundwater extraction.
On April 11, the BMC had deferred the terms of its notification to the owners of borewells and ring well operators until June 15.
The decision to stay its notice until the next two months came along the heels of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ decision to find a resolution for the concerns flagged by the water tanker drivers across Mumbai amid burgeoning water crisis across the city.
However, the MWTA maintained that their strike is here to stay and will not be revoked, leaving the city mired with its ongoing water crisis.
As several pockets of the city reeled under a water crisis, Union Minister for Jal Shakti Ministry, C R Patil, also convened a meeting with the representatives of the MWTA as well as the CGWA authorities, wherein the grievances of the tanker owners were discussed.
Following the meeting, minister Patil directed the CGWA to streamline the process of obtaining NOCs (no-objection certificates) and making the facility more accessible.
Even so, the MWTA representatives argued that with the clauses of their demands remaining unfulfilled, they will not revoke their strike.
“We will not be cancelling our strike, and our services are still suspended. Despite our meeting, none of our demands have been met with. Until our demands remain unfulfilled, we will not cancel our strike. Our services will also remain suspended until we have a meeting with the Chief Minister,” Ankur Sharma, spokesperson of the MWTA, said.
According to sources in the Association, there are approximately 1,800 tankers in Mumbai that supply
non-potable water sourced from wells and borewells.
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