23 years on, BMC cuts water supply to garden over ‘illegal connection’

The ALM president says water bill is supposed to be paid by Gardens Department directly as per standard practice, but this is often forgotten and bill is sent to them wrongly and later withdrawn. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Hundreds of trees and plants in a 2.5-acre garden in Andheri that has been created by members of the Mahakali ALM group could die soon, as the BMC cut water supply to it on Friday in this blistering summer. The ALM members claim the civic body has said the connection is illegal, when it had assured them of 50,000 litres of water every day, free of cost for the garden. Interestingly, the ALM has been maintaining the garden since 2000-2001 and claim the BMC cut supply in 2017 and then restored it.

The BMC, however, claimed the connection was found to be illegally reconnected so it was cut off again.

Besides endangering the greenery, the lack of water in the restrooms in the Takshila ALM Park or Matoshree Meenatai Thackeray Maidan, is causing problems for about 1,000 visitors every day.

The Mahakali Advanced Locality Management (ALM) created the garden and planted all the trees, plants, and shrubs in it. Besides the rare Rudraksh tree, there are more than 150 mature other trees in addition to the numerous floral, medicinal, and aesthetic species of plants in the garden.

Not the first time

Vishwanath Shetty, a senior member of the ALM said, "When we formed the ALM, the trust deed with the BMC assured us 50,000 litres of water every day for the upkeep of the garden and to take care of the visitors. We have had a beautiful equation with the BMC but now I do not know why they are behaving differently. The assistant municipal commissioner (AMC) - K East ward claims the water supply is illegal. We fail to understand the meaning of such a statement."

The ALM went through a similar situation in 2017 when its members met the municipal commissioner, additional municipal commissioner and assistant municipal commissioner of K East ward to get the water supply restored.

"We also visited the superintendent of Garden in Byculla to sort out the issue as the water bill is raised to Garden Department by the Hydraulic Department for internal records. Finally, they restored the water. Probably nothing of this is on their records and they are now claiming the connection is illegal. We are at a loss to understand their logic. They do not communicate with us. We need to save those hundred-plus trees and plants. Visitors need drinking water in the garden. The children who come to study need water. Toilets need to be cleaned every day. The 23 years of care for this garden cannot go waste. We want the water supply restored. Let BMC handle their internal matters and not inconvenience common people. This is our humble request," Shetty added.

On Wednesday when this correspondent visited the garden, he found many visitors inconvenienced due to the lack of water including children and senior citizens.
Ramesh Pai, a trustee of the ALM said, "The Mahakali ALM Park, is the best green lung in the area, which has been developed and maintained by local residents and the trustees in order to provide excellent open air facilities for exercise, yoga, for students to study, and for people to relax from the hectic city life."

‘BMC speak untrue'

Anoop Talwar, a trustee and president of the Mahakali ALM, said that BMC's explanation for sudden disconnection of the water without notice is untrue and unacceptable.

"BMC stated that we were given a 40-50 mm water connection on January 15, 2001 (true) and that the connection was discontinued on July 18, 2017 (true) for ‘non-payment of outstanding of R18.4 lakh'. How come BMC let the figure mount to such a high sum without taking any action in 16-20 years? But the disconnection was actually due to a misunderstanding within departments of BMC regarding our agreement, which provided for 50,000 litres of free water each month, a figure we never exceeded. The proof is that they themselves re-connected the supply later after realizing their mistake. Further proof is that we have never paid BMC for water till date in 22 years and yet have had our water connection. It is totally untrue that we have illegally got water supply. This statement by BMC is only to justify their wrong action in disconnecting our water. The fact is that the bill is supposed to be paid by the Gardens department directly as per standard practice, but from time to time this is forgotten and the bill is sent to us wrongly and later withdrawn," Talwar said.

"Perhaps the real reason for disconnection was the water shortage. They should have at least provided for drinking water or rationed water till the situation improved. Water is required for plants in this beautiful park used by approximately 1,500 people each day, and also for drinking," Talwar added.

Monica Menon, secretary of the ALM said, "A sudden water cut in a public place is inhuman."

BMC speak

Assistant Municipal Commissioner (AMC) of K East Ward Manish Walung said, "In this case, 40mm ×50mm dia. connection under code no. KER6682000 was granted to M/s Mahakali Advance Locality, VJB Udyan, Byculla, Mumbai on 15.01.2001. Same was disconnected on 18.07.2017 under DCO for outstanding of R18,42,994/-. It was found illegally joined hence again cut off on 16.06.2023.This matter is also informed to ASGK/E. The matter was also informed to the Garden Department."

1,500
Approximate No. of visitors to the garden every day