Severe water shortages are affecting residents across 27 villages of Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation
KALYAN: Residents of 27 villages under the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), which depend on the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) for water supply, have been facing severe shortages since MIDC announced a weekly 36-hour shutdown. Goel said the villages should receive 105 million litres per day (MLD) as per the approved allocation, but the actual supply from MIDC is only around 55 MLD. He questioned the rationale behind imposing a further 36-hour shutdown when the existing supply was already inadequate, warning that the weekly cut would worsen the situation. Apart from Ashele Pada, several other areas across the 27 villages, particularly newly developed townships, are also facing acute water shortages.
She said residents in these areas sometimes go without water for as long as eight days and are forced to buy bottled drinking water to meet their daily needs. Amid growing complaints from residents and corporators, KDMC commissioner Abhinav Goel has questioned the need for the additional cut when the villages are already receiving barely half their approved water quota. He also urged Mayor Harshali Chaudhari to take up the issue with the chief minister, deputy chief ministers and industries minister to ensure that the additional water cut was withdrawn. Tare questioned how residents would cope during the peak summer months if the situation was so severe in October. She urged the civic administration to intervene and find an immediate solution.
Speaking at the KDMC general body meeting on Wednesday, Goel said the civic administration would send a proposal to MIDC’s senior officials seeking the cancellation of the weekly shutdown.
Responding to the concerns, Goel said KDMC pays the water supply bills for the 27 villages, which receive water from MIDC. Residents faced acute shortages after the first 36-hour shutdown, prompting the civic administration to seek its cancellation. Besides the shortfall in quantity, low water pressure further aggravates the crisis in these areas. The weekly shutdown effectively reduces water supply to five days a week.