Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Great steps taken by NMMC to prevent water misuse' that was published in Newsband

Great steps taken by NMMC to prevent water misuse

It is good to see Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) water supply department gearing up to check leaks and curb misuse of drinking water in the city and even penalize those found guilty of wasting or misusing potable water. NMMC is planning to intensify monitoring. They have asked their officials to report wastage or illegal use of water in their respective jurisdiction.

NMMC took this step after receiving complaints about potable water which was being used for watering gardens and cleaning vehicles by some residents. There are some people who use drinking water to wash vehicles.

CIDCO was kind enough to build chawls for economically backward residents of the city but it ignored the water aspect. These residents of the chawls receive two-hour water supply daily in a day unlike the people living in row houses who receive plenty of water and hence can afford to misuse drinking water to wash vehicles or water gardens.

Constant monitoring on the supply network and installation of bulk domestic meters in CIDCO colonies are good steps that have been taken by the authorities and this indeed is helping in controlling water wastage to quite a great extent.

The civic body has made arrangements to check the misuse of water. They are able to gauge the actual quantity of water loss and misuse. NMMC is also verifying the complaints about water misuse received from the residents and are taking penal action against those concerned.

Notices are issued to the concerned meter holder if water had overflowed from the safety tank or potable water was used for gardening or cleaning vehicles. The ward officer has been given the powers to decide the course of action including the amount of penalty to be recovered from the errant meter holders. NMMC staff has also been asked to promptly plug or repair any leaking pipeline.

NMMC should be lauded for taking good steps to prevent water misuse. These steps taken by NMMC are bound to do a lot of good to the residents of the city.