How Mumbai gets its water: A discussion

A tweet chat held by Citizen Matters on Mumbai's water supply; how we source it, treat it and allocate it, with Sitaram Shelar and Purva Dewoolkar.

On October 3rd, Citizen Matters hosted a tweet chat on water supply in Mumbai with Sitaram Shelar and Purva Dewoolkar. The discussion covered how water is sourced in the city; the condition of lakes, the treatment plants, and reasons for water shortage.

Sitaram Shelar is the Convener of the Pani Haq Samiti. He is a member of the core committee of the Hamara Shaher Mumbai Abhiyan and has initiated the 51 Mumbaikar campaign. His work has focused on youth development, governance,  poverty and the built environment.

Purva Dewoolkar is a SEED funded PhD Scholar at the University of Manchester.  Her research investigates the processes of negotiations and struggles through which the sanitation infrastructure is produced in Mumbai, India.

poster of citizen matter's tweet chat on Mumbai's water supply

Mumbai gets its water from a complex network of pipelines, tunnels, balancing reservoirs, pumping stations and lakes. Despite being one of the world’s largest water supply networks, why does Mumbai still struggle with water supply? These questions led the conversation.

The first question was about water demand and supply. How much water does Mumbai need and how much does it get?

“‘Need’ has various calculations, one of them being MCGM claims to calculate as per the Chitale committee report: 240lpcd” said Sitaram Shelar. 

Is there a disparity between how much water the rich get as compared to the poor? and how far are we from getting WHO recommended water supply per capita, which is 135l per day? Were additional questions asked.

South Bombay residents get 300l water per person per day
What South Bombay residents get in a day

“Mumbai sources around 4175 megalitres of water per day, and 100% of this is from the dams” said Sitaram Shelar. But, are we utilising all our resources?

Buildings' groundwater infrastructure does not work in most cases
What happens to groundwater?

The second question was on how Mumbai sources water and how it is carried into the city.

Mumbai gets its water from Bhatsa and Vaitarna
Mumbai’s water resources
Mumbai's purification plants in Bhandup and Panjarapur
Mumbai’s purification plants

Water, however, remains more contaminated in some parts of the city like Dadar, Dharavi, Sion, Goregaon and Mulund according to the BMC’s water contamination report of 2020-21.

Is there a regulated rate of water? Who is paying how much for water?

Apartments buildings pay 4.23rs/1000ltrs and slums pay 400-500rs/1000ltrs
Cost for apartment buildings as compared to informal settlements

The fourth question asked if we are implementing any regulations to conserve water, is there incentive for good work, or penalisation for bad work?

existing water resources in Mumbai
Are we conserving our water bodies?

“Dubious activities like filling ponds to create land, Constructing roads around the existing lakes are some examples of misuse of water resources” said Sitaram Shelar.


Read more: An apartment complex saved 187 houses from going dry


Mumbai's investments in dams justified?
Investments in dams

According to Sitaram and Purva, citizens’ constructive and consistent engagement, awareness about water sustainability and political will are the only ways to make clean water equally accessible to all. 

Also read:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Similar Story

How long before “water for all” becomes a reality in Mumbai

Despite having a "water for all" policy, a large population goes without water connections and rely on illegal, exorbitant water supply. .

Mumbai has numerous dams at about 100 km from the municipal boundaries of the city. Yet many in the city do not have access to water. If you look closely at who cannot use this water, it is mostly people living in informal settlements and bastis. In 2012, we at Pani Haq Samiti filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Bombay High Court, demanding water for all in Mumbai, as per Article 21 of the Constitution, which highlights the right to dignity and the right to life.  The HC verdict directed the BMC to create a “Water for All”…

Similar Story

Blog: In Delhi’s Yamuna Khadar, a daily race for two bottles of clean water

Every afternoon, a daily ritual unfolds as the Delhi Jal Board water tanker arrives, the only source of potable water for residents here.

Every afternoon in Delhi’s Yamuna Khadar, a daily ritual unfolds as the residents, mainly migrant workers from Bihar working as waste collectors, anxiously wait for the arrival of the Delhi Jal Board's (DJB) water tanker. The tanker stops at the far end of a kutcha road lined with shanties and heaps of garbage.  Usually, children aged 5 to 6 enthusiastically run to announce the arrival of the tanker. Soon after, women arrive, balancing large containers in their arms and around their waists, while men on bicycles hastily make their way to the main road. For the people here, this water…