Mira Bhayandar: Water woes worsens as MIDC cut shorts supply to MBMC

Mira Bhayandar: After plugging the five MLD (Million Litres per Day) water deficit in December-2022, the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has once again reduced the water supply to the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) since March, thus aggravating the water woes of the twin-city.

In a much-needed respite for people living in the twin-city, industries minister-Uday Samant had promised to plug the deficit by 5 MLD with immediate effect and augmentation of supply by another 20 MLD within six months. Samant publicly made this promise while speaking at the art festival hosted by legislator- Pratap Sarnaik in Bhayandar on 11 December.

Promise lasted for less than 3 months

True to his words, the MIDC plugged the deficit, but the promise lasted only for a period less than three months. From December to March, the water supplied by the MIDC hovered a little above 114 MLD, but the current readings reveal a drop of five MLD limiting the actual supply to just 106 to 108 MLD. 

As against the requirement of over 225 MLD, the twin-city has an allotted supply of 221 MLD provided jointly by the MIDC (135 MLD) and Shahad Temghar (STEM) water authority (86 MLD) water supply authority. However, the actual supply continues to hover below 200 MLD due to a shortfall of around 25 MLD supplied by the MIDC. The water woes have further aggravated owing to shutdowns to repair technical glitches like air valve damages and pipeline bursts in the supply system of the MIDC and STEM water authority for four consecutive days last week.  Apart from the deficit, the twin-city is also losing a huge quantity of potable water in transit on a daily basis owing to leakages, unaccounted supply and theft. There have been disputes between the beneficiaries over the quantity of water supplied to them, in the past.