mumbai water supply management

ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT MUMBAI WATER SUPPLY MANAGEMENT

BRIHANMUMBAI MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONMUMBAI WATER SUPPLY PROJECT

Mumbai city, with a population of over 13 million, is one of the largest megacities in the world. Water supply for Mumbai city is derived from both lake and river sources, through gravity and pumped schemes. Water supplied by gravity is drawn from lake sources on the island, as well as from the mainland, located between 100 kms. to 160 kms. from the city. These are the Vaitarna, Tansa, upper Vaitarna, Vehar, Tulsi and Powai.

The pumped water source is from river Bhatsa, 65 kms from the city. The present supply to the city is 2900 Mld. Pumping schemes were taken up, after the completion of the schemes with lake sources in 1972.

Based on a master plan for integrated development of water supply and sewerage facilities, Mumbai water supply project is planned to be developed in 3 phases of 455 Mld capacity each, to be drawn from river Bhatsa. The scheme involved construction of a weir at Pise for impounding water released from Bhatsa dam. Typically, each phase involves abstraction of raw water from a common intake on the river at Pise, pre-chlorinating it and pumping it to Panjrapur, 9 km away for treatment. Thereafter treated water is pumped to a master balancing reservoir, 1 km away on Yewai hill. A 1919 MLD treatment plant for the treatment of water from the lakes and partly from the river is located at Bhandup. From there, water


flows by gravity, to the city. Conveyance of water is by means of large mild steel transmission main of sizes ranging from 2210 mm to 3000 mm. Where conveyance system crosses the creek, tunnels in rock is provided. Instrumentation and telemetry facilities are also being provided for monitoring of the complex system.

THE LAKES OF MUMBAI AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS WATER SUPPLY

For Mumbai’s population of 13 million people, water is the most precious commodity. The metropolis cannot take its first step in the morning and end the day without it. The water supply for Mumbai which comes from six lakes within Mumbai’s precincts has grown over the last 130 years.

These six lakes are being Tansa, Bhatsa, Vaitarna, Tulsi, Upper Vaitarna and Powai. The system is supported by reservoirs, storages, pipes and taps till they reach the citizens. The city in fact, is inundated with creeks and bays. Two of these lakes are within the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, the only wildlife sanctuary within city limits. Powai is bang in the middle of an industrial zone today. Tansa, Vaitarna and Upper


Vaitarna which lie on the outskirts of the city are likely to be seen only while travelling on outstation-bound trains, when it crosses the bridges over these lakes.

It was in 1856 that the first lake – Vihar was earmarked to be used as a source of water supply by Captain Crawford of the Engineers in a report to John Lord Elphinstone. The initial supply was just 32 million litres a day. The cost: Rs 65 lakh.

The supply has been increased every now and then. Vihar is located at the origin of the Mithi river and three earthen dams and the overflow section in stone masonry are built here. The plan for Tulsi lake was laid in 1872-79 by damming and redirecting river Tasso into Vihar lake at a cost of Rs 40 lakh. Tulsi Dam was built over a hundred years ago and the forest surrounding it acts as a catchment area. These two lakes can be visited with special permission only.

In 1884, Tulsi and Vihar waters were still insufficient, so the Tansa water works was sanctioned. It has one of the largest masonry dams in Asia and was designed by Major Tulloch in 1872. It was completed in 1892 and supplies 410 million litres daily to the city.

Powai was commissioned when Tansa work was underway and a water famine seemed imminent. This source was developed over four stages and the dam celebrated its centenary year in 1991-92. The Powai valley scheme on the Mithi River was sanctioned as a supplementary to Vihar and work began on it in 1889 and was completed in 1891. Its inferior quality of water, led it being used for other purposes rather than drinking - agriculture and Vaitarna (the lower) was planned and conceived by a group of municipal engineers. This river comes from Trimbhakeshwar in Nasik, and a dam Modak Sagar was built across it in 1957.


Upper Vaitarna is used for the supply of water and hydro-electric power. Water from here flows to lower Vaitarna after generating power and water is then supplied to Mumbai. A dam upstream conveys the water downstream and is built of concrete masonry. This project was completed in 1972.

It is the Western ghats that trap the monsoon clouds that feed these lakes. With the lakes, many reservoirs also exist such as the one at Malabar Hill, which has a garden that stands above three of them that store 300 lakh gallons of water.

Powai is well known for its boating rides which have been curtailed due to the growth of creepers across its water and dumping of garbage. Vaitarna, Upper Vaitarna, Tansa, Bhatsa are as vast as the sea and are used by fisherman to collect fresh water fish. Their boats are a regular sight on and off the lakes or on the banks.

Two of the lakes lie within the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. They are a six to seven miles walk from the parks main gate or you could easily drive down in your own car. Rickshaws and cabs are forbidden to enter the park now.

The water supply to Mumbai from various sources is about 563 million gallons per day (MGD). The lakes - their normal levels at the end of the monsoon, as well as the amount of water supplied to the city per day…

Lake Level (m) Supply (MGD)

Bhatsa 122.36 23.5

Upper Vaitarna 603.50 140

Modak Sagar (Lower Vaitarna)

163.15 100

Tansa 128.63 90

Vihar 80.42 -


Tulsi 139.17 -

DISTRIBUTION OF WATER

The water distribution system in Mumbai is about a 100-years-old. The BMC manages to supply between 70 and 75% of the city's water needs. The water supply to Bombay from various sources is about 563 million gallons per day (MGD). Water is brought in from the lakes after treatment, and stored in 23 service reservoirs. The monsoon precipitation is collected in six lakes and supplied to the city through the year. 460 MGD are treated at the Bhandup Water Treatment Plant, the largest in Asia. The two major sources, Tansa and Lower Vaitarna, are at a higher level than the city, not much power is required to pump the water.

The service reservoirs are mainly situated on hills as mentioned earlier are located at Malabar Hill, Worli Hill, Raoli, Pali Hill, Malad, Powai and Bhandup. The timing of water supply to different parts of the city vary between two to five hours. The southern part of the city is getting water through Malabar


Hill reservoir and Bandarwada Reservoir but the rest of the city is getting direct water from the mains.

BMC EARNINGS

Currently, the Mumbai Municipal Organisation (BMC) earns above Rs. 4.5 billion a year through water charges and levies. Water production costs Rs. 24 per 10,000 litres, they charge Rs. 6 for 10,000 litres for domestic consumption, and hae a system of cross-subsidy whereby they charge Rs. 150 for 10,000 litres for industrial and commercial users.

REASONS FOR MUMBAI WATER SUPPLY SHORTAGE, POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS AND

WORDS OF THE BMC OFFICIALS

How does Mumbai match Shanghai?

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) supplies water to India’s financial capital for no more than six hours a day. Shanghai supplies water for 24 hours. That’s the same as international cities like London, Bangkok, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong.

Mumbai has enough water for its 14 million citizens, enough for a 24-hour supply. So say experts. So says the BMC. So says a World Bank study.


The city — from Churchgate to Dahisar on the west, from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus to Mulund and Mankhurd on the east — is supplied 3,350 million litres per day (mld) from five lakes. That’s 33,500 tankers of water a day. Yet, every Mumbai household knows the water announcements: Get ready, the water will go soon! Fill the buckets! Don’t wash your hair!

ISSUE NO. 1: So, if we have enough water, why don’t we get it?

“Mumbai has enough water for a 24-hour supply but water gets wasted because there are too many leakages in the old pipe network,” said David Ehrhardt, chief executive of Castalia Ltd, a global infrastructure consultancy firm that in June 2007 studied Mumbai’s water supply — in Andheri with money from the World Bank.

Here’s what Ehrhardt found: “The amount of water Shanghai loses in its 24-hour supply is lost in Mumbai’s six-hour supply process.” Mumbai loses 670 MLD of water.

Continuous water supply — a given in global cities across the world — will solve many of our water problems:

• To start with, people will no longer have to wake up at odd hours or plan their lives around the water-supply schedule.

• It will cut the waste of water. People tend to empty stored water every time the six-hour supply resumes, said the World Bank-funded study.

• It will reduce contamination. Sewer and water pipes, many a century old, run parallel. When there are leaks, there’s contamination and outbreaks of water-borne illnesses.

If there is a 24-hour supply, water will simply flow out if there’s a leak; sewage will not get in. When pipes are empty, contamination is easy, said Ehrhardt. Contamination is highest during the monsoons, between June and October.

The answer: Replace 4,000 km of leaky pipes, some up to 70 years old. The 2007 BMC budget set aside Rs 253 crore to replace and repair these old pipes.


Work began after the rains, in October. “We have replaced 150 km of the city’s water pipes and we will replace about 174 km more with money from this year’s budget,” said Madhukar Kamble, chief hydraulic engineer with the BMC. “Work worth another Rs 100 crore will be done in the next financial year.” The civic body also plans to repair 290 km of pipeline.

Replacing these pipes won’t be easy. Civic officials say there is no underground map of the city’s water pipes and sewage lines. “So we have to dig a section of the road and check if the pipes are actually there,” admitted an official from the hydraulic department, requesting anonymity. “We rarely find the pipeline we are looking for in the first attempt.”

Till Mumbai gets new pipes, our best hope is that the city quickly detects leaks and fixes them.

On an average there are 250 major pipe-bursts every year. That’s a pipe-burst every 36 hours. Each time, around 10 lakh citizens face water cuts for varying amounts of time — it could be from a few hours to two days.

Fixing the leaks would not be difficult, if the BMC had had an efficient system of detecting leaks. “We still follow the old method of listening to the water gushing in the pipe to locate the leak,” said P.R. Sanglikar, retired deputy municipal commissioner.

Isn’t there a more efficient way to detect water leaks? “Well, the BMC bought electronic leak detectors 20 years ago but they were never used due to lack of enthusiasm among the staff,” explained Sanglikar. “Now, they have rusted and do not work.”

It took between seven days to a month to get a pipe repaired, until recently: A BMC meeting had to be held and a committee had to sanction money for repairs. Additional municipal commissioner Manu Kumar Srivastava, who heads the water department, has now put a system in place where pipe-bursts are attended to in a few hours instead of weeks. “If a pipeline bursts, work will not have to wait,” Srivastava. “Work


is being given to private contractors and money has been budgeted so that repairs don’t get delayed.”

No waiting for water, no fear of contamination, no water cuts. Mumbai can make all of this happen, once the new water pipelines are laid and dams are built. The work is on. Let’s hope we meet the deadlines.

Is this enough?

Problem 1: We need more than sharp ears!!

The civic body needs to invest in technologically advanced equipment that will detect leaks, then train employees to use the equipment — instead of relying on a staffer’s sharp hearing to detect pipe-bursts.

Problem 2: How do we get to the pipes?

Slums built on water pipes need to be cleared and slum dwellers quickly rehabilitated. That will make repairs easier and ensure pipes don’t get damaged.

Problem 3: Where are the pipes?

Water pipes — many laid up to 100 years ago — need to be mapped urgently. Projects are often delayed as workers dig blindly trying to find pipes. Indiscriminate digging also mars roads and snarls traffic.

Problem 4: Poor water pressure

The city needs booster pumps so every part of Mumbai gets enough water. Neighbourhoods on hills do not get enough water because it flows at a pressure that is worse than most international cities.

Other initiatives


Universal meters will be installed in flats to make sure users pay as much as they consume. “We are inviting tenders from agencies to supply, install, operate, maintain and read water meters throughout Mumbai for five years,” said Srivastava. The agency will be appointed by the end of January 2008.

Introduction of telescopic rates to ensure people who consume more pay proportionately more. The proposed tariff rates include doubling the rates if you consume more than the global standard quota of 150 litres per day. “This proposal is before the BMC standing committee. It will check excessive consumption,” said Srivastava.

Prepaid water meters will be introduced soon. Officials hope easy availability and low cost will discourage slum dwellers from tampering with pipes and stealing water. This proposal is pending before the standing committee.

ISSUE NO. 2: The tariffs and cost management:

Consumers have to pay water and sewerage charges when the connection is metered, water and sewerage tax when the connection is not metered and water and sewerage benefit tax for all consumers. Since 1995-1996, the total revenue income has doubled while the expenditure has increased by 1.5 times. In order to improve the cost of recovery (today: 80%), the centralized computerized billing is being decentralised at the ward level. On August 1, 2002, a hike in water charges and water tax should take effect. It has been passed by the general body of the BMC. This hike (from 1.75 to 2.25 Rs. per cubic meter for slum dwellers and from Rs. 3 to 4 for other domestic users) will, according to estimates, bring an additional Rs. 51 crores to the BMC’s revenue (The Times of India, 2002). To sum up, cross-subsidies are the rule as industrial and commercial establishments have to pay much higher rates than domestic connections. However, unlike most of other cities, slum dwellers (in recognized settlements) are considered as customers and have to pay water and sewerage charges and taxes. In any case, the tariff policy is not based on economic


principles and no change of tariff structure is thought of. Water supply and sewerage is a good source of revenue in Mumbai but the lack of independence from the Corporation, for instance through a Board, is a constraint towards efficient management.

ISSUE NO. 3: A heavy monsoon. A forgotten plan. A 13-year delay

1994: Mumbai is reeling under a severe water crisis.

A team of eight experts, headed by Dr Madhavrao Chitale, an expert in irrigation and water management, put their heads together and came up with a master plan that would be the answer to the city’s water shortage. Not a stopgap solution but a plan that would sustain the city’s water needs for 26 years, till 2020.

The plan was to build five dams. Permissions from the state government were in place, Rs 2,599 crore was allocated and work was set to begin.

It rained heavily that year. Monsoon was normal and the water crisis resolved itself. And the plan? It was forgotten.

2007

Thirteen years later, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) dug out the report and revived the five-dam plan, starting with the Middle Vaitarna project. The proposal has survived the termites, but its deadlines have been left far behind. “What would have cost the BMC Rs 2,599 crore is an estimated Rs 9,609 crore, if work starts today,” said P.R. Sanglikar, retired deputy municipal commissioner. The difference? A cool Rs 7,010 crore. With that money the BMC could have built five more dams.

The civic body got clearance in May this year from the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation and the Ministry of Environment and Forest to build the first dam, called the Middle Vaitarna project. Its new deadline is December 2011. Once ready, it will supply Mumbai an additional 455 mld of water, that’s about 4,550 tankers of


water. Feasibility studies are now underway for two other dams, the Gargai and Pinjal projects.

If the civic body had followed the original plan, the Middle Vaitarna dam would have been ready four years ago and by 2013, Mumbai would have had enough water to meet the projected demand for the year 2021. Water supply would have gone up from the current 33,500 tankers per day to 53,880 tankers in Mumbai.

“When I was appointed to do the study 15 years ago, the main focus of the study was that the city should continue to develop without water becoming a constraint,” said Chitale.

Work in progress!!

For more water: New dams

Middle Vaitarna:

The project involves construction of a 300-feet-high dam on the Vaitarna river, located in the forest area. From the river, water will be brought down to Lower Vaitarna. From there, a 7.5-km-long tunnel and a 35-km-long pipeline will bring water to a new water treatment plant in Bhandup, where water will be treated and then supplied to the city.

Cost: Rs 1,600 crore

Effect: Mumbai will get 4,550 tankers of water.

Deadline: “It will take four years to build,” said Srivastava. “We will be able to draw water from the dam by December 2011.”

Gargai and Pinjal:

The dams will come up on the river Gargai (about 120 km north of Mumbai) and Pinjal (about 130 km north of Mumbai). Work on the two dams is likely to start simultaneously, as recommended in the feasibility study. The Japanese Bank For International Cooperation is currently studying the project and may fund the project.


Cost: Not yet determined

Effect: 4,550 and 8,550 tankers of water respectively

Deadline: 2017 and 2021

For better supply : New pipes

• The BMC has set aside Rs 253 crore in its 2007 budget to replace pipes in the city. Work began in October.

• The BMC also plans to repair 290 km of the pipeline.

• Another Rs 100 crore will be allocated in 2008 budget to continue replacing the city’s 100-year-old pipelines.

Tunnel vision

The civic body has started constructing tunnels instead of laying huge pipes to bring water from the dams into the city as these underground tunnels are low maintenance and cannot be encroached upon.

Tansa: A tunnel is being built at the Tansa dam site. The 17-km-long tunnel will run between Gundawali village - about 90 km from the city on the Mumbai-Nashik highway - and the Bhandup water-treatment complex, from where water is released to the city. The project also includes replacement of the existing pipelines. The existing water lines from Tansa, Vaitarna, and Upper Vaitarna— Middle Vaitarna and Pinjal will come later— will be connected through this tunnel to the Bhandup water treatment complex.

Cost: Rs 1,650 crore: Rs 800 crore for the tunnel; Rs 850 crore for the pipeline. The BMC will seek funds from the Centre.

Others tunnels:

Malabar Hill-Cross Maidan

Cost: Rs 150 crore


Length: 3.6 km

Maroshi-Ruparel

Cost: Rs 350 crore

Length: 12 km

Yerawali-Yari Road

Cost: Rs 250 crore

Length: 6.1 km

Deadline: Work on all projects has started; the BMC deadline is 2010.

The buck stops here!!

WORDS OF THE ADDITIONAL MUNICIPAL COMMISSIONER

Manu Kumar Srivastava

What are the BMC’s plans to improve water supply to Mumbai?We are taking up many initiatives under the Sujal Mumbai campaign. We have taken up work worth Rs 2,800 crore. The initiatives include creating new water sources by building dams, like the Middle Vaitarna project, and improving the city's water distribution system by replacing old water mains with three tunnels. These tunnels are easier to maintain and inaccessible to miscreants. We are also repairing and replacing water pipelines. In addition to this, to speed up the repair of smaller pipes carrying water to the consumer, we have fixed contracts with agencies to carry out work as per the directives of the hydraulic engineer.


Why did the BMC not build a single dam to increase water supply for 13 years?

I can only talk to you about the last two-and-a-half years since I have taken charge. We have got all the approvals for the Middle Vaitarna dam project, including funds from the Centre. The project is on track. We are also doing a feasibility study for the Gargai and Pinjal water dam projects.

What measures are you taking to improve water supply in the city? We are aiming at a 24x7 water supply by minimising water wastage, through improvements in the distribution system and by developing new water sources.

Why is the civic body not investing in equipment to detect leaks? We are improving the water distribution system with the help of a reputed consultant. We will divide the city into smaller areas and conduct water audits in each area to identify the leaks and rectify it.

BMC PLAN

A pilot project in Andheri (east) will be launched in approximately two months as part of the municipal corporation's long-term plan to privatise the city's water distribution network.

Four years ago, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) applied to the Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF), an international donor agency that helps


developing countries improve infrastructure by involving the private sector for funds, for a feasibility report on methods to upgrade the city's water distribution network.

The corporation had asked for $300,000 to study how to better operate, maintain and repair damaged pipelines, to improve billing efficiency and to run a pilot project. This will help to curb heavy water leakage by adopting better technology.

The BMC is going to give the job of distributing water in Andheri (east) to a private agency. According to the hydraulic department, at least 25 per cent of the water supplied to Mumbai is lost to leaks which the BMC would like to reduce to 10 per cent. The private firm is expected to repair the old, corroded pipelines.

OTHER POSSIBLE SOLUTION FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF WATER SHORTAGE:

Self help is the best help, each and every being of the community has to take a step to solve its own problem and the best step to solve water problem is to catch and store water where it falls through Rain water harvesting. Rain will usher local food security, from rain will come biomass-wealth that will


eradicate ecological poverty. From rain will come social harmony.

Rainwater harvesting is what India can choose, and the youth consortium which will bring paradigm shift in this process will be Water Warriors of India.

Sanitation and water management should be looked at simultaneously. Too often attention is focused on drinking water supply, leaving sanitation and wastewater treatment for later. However, for every 100 litres of water going into a house about 90 litres will have to leave the plot again.

Priority has to be given quickly to creating an infrastructure to assure availability of water in order to meet the agricultural, domestic and industrial needs of the fast growing population of Mumbai.

WATER MANAGEMENT EXHIBITION, 2008

Water Management 2008 Exhibition will act as the

platform for the industries in the field of water management to get a competitive edge on their competitors. With the event's


focus on new Technologies, equipment and innovative ideas, many Companies and Governmental officials hope to find solutions to major water issues facing today. With that in mind, the primary effort at this exhibition and conference will be technologies whose methods and practices operate in efficient and environmentally-friendly ways. This exhibition will help the exhibitors to generate high quality leads through new and existing customers, increase brand awareness and source requests for new proposals. Water Management 2008 recognizes this challenge and understands that water is an indispensable source for further modernization and development.


MUMBAI TO HAVE UNINTERRUPTED WATER SUPPLY BY 2012

Mumbai is all set to have uninterrupted water supply in the next five years time once the middle Vaitarna project is complete.

The city will be getting an additional 300 MLD water from the Bhatsa reservoir and within five years Mumbai can get 24x7 water supply after the Middle Vaitarna project's completion. This will be possible only if the water distribution network is enhanced and wastage of water is reduced.

At present, the BMC is conducting a three-side evaluation of increasing water supply to the city through source augmentation, demand side management and supply side management.

The plan is to replace several old pipelines -- some of which are a 100 years old -- with new ones and also plans to replace the water tax system with the universal water meter system wherein the consumers are charged according to their usage. If the consumers are charged according to their usage, they will become very conscious and hence water can be saved.

Under the Water Distribution Improvement Project, the civic body has chosen a private French consulting firm, Castalia, based in New Zealand, for advising on privatisation of water supply in K-Ward. If the pilot project is a success, then it will be replicated in all the other wards of the city.

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