Mumbai: Water leakage complaints rise by 30 per cent in ‘23-24

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While major leaks in water pipelines that led to several water cuts made the news throughout the year, these were still the tip of the iceberg. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has received 5,934 complaints of water leakage till December 22, whereas the total number of complaints for the financial year 2022-23 stood at 6,228. This comes down to 22 complaints a day - a 30 per cent increase from last financial year's 17.

"These include complaints regarding water mains, connections, valves, contamination and shortage. Wear and tear and rust-induced disintegration are inevitable. The city's pipelines are almost 100 years old. Four tunnels and around 100 kms of pipelines are under construction, and many more are proposed," said a BMC official. Mumbai receives 3,850 million litres of water every day. Around 25 per cent of this, or 1,000 million litres, is wasted due to leakage.

"If the city can bring it down to 15 per cent, which is the national norm, we can save 400 million litres, which is the daily supply from one dam. At the same time, leak detection in the water supply network through a large-scale drive is also necessary," said Madhukar Kambale, ex-chief of the Hydraulic Engineering Department of the BMC.