Bombay plays out a cruel charade

MUMBAI.
With 90 inches of annual rainfall, this old city is beginning to face a looming water crisis. The groundwater level is reported to have plunged down by an average of 30 to 50 feet in less than a year.
The whole of Mumbai is supplied about 2,500 million litres — against 500 million litres of supply in Bangalore. Mumbai’s total demand is about 4,000 million litres. This is not so much due to non–availability of water, as you will soon see.
What is less known is that there is a cruel irony to the water supply situation in the metro.
Water for Fun–lovers
In and around Thane and Panvel, there are 24 water parks, using a total of over 50,000 million litres every day. The source: numerous borewells gouged out of the rich rainwater–soaked strip of the west coast that serves as a rich drainage to the ridge of the towering western ghats. Esselworld’s Water Kingdom alone receives over 7,000 million litres a day. There is no water to drink, but there is enough for the fun–loving urban family taking the week–end break.
The reality is grimmer. Fisher folk in Malad village beyond Borivali pay Rs 2 for 30 liters of water, while residential buildings pay Rs 3.50 for 1,000 litres!
Lack of knowledge among urban users leads to enormous wastage — leaving taps open, dripping, washing half loads in washing machines, washing vessels, cars and teeth in running water, filling bath tubs every day, and encouraging these water parks with patronage. Flushes consume 40 liters per person per day in residential buildings, while the fisherfolk do not get a total of 40 liters a day.
Flouting the Law
New buildings in Mumbai are supposed to have rainwater harvesting systems since 2001. [Cities like Bangalore are only now beginning to wake up to the need for such legislation.] Borewell water system is required to be used for all flushing needs of toilets. There is no law yet to force treatment of waste water for reuse for irrigation of lawns and pretty landscapes. And, worse, the law is more flouted than obeyed. And the charade continues. Some day, the Mumbaikar will wake up. The governments will. And that day will be too late—for the damage wrought will be harder to redress.