Mumbai experienced a 30 per cent water cut for the first time after 1996 on Tuesday. This means a sudden change in lifestyle for some of the upper middle class families in the city. They were earlier enjoying the luxury of uninterrupted water supply 24X7.

For Amita Pure, a resident of Tarapore Gardens in Oshiwara, the water cut brought about a change in her daily schedule. “For the past two weeks, we have been facing water cut for 2-3 hours. However, today the taps went dry by 9:30 am. Thankfully, since our society had put up a notice in this regard, my husband and children were prepared for the water cut. We finished all our water chores like bathing before 9.30 am.” Pure has stored five buckets of water in the bathroom and three small vessels of water in the kitchen to meet their needs before water supply resumes in the evening for two hours .

“We don’t have the luxury of getting hot water by switching on the geyser and using the washing machine at anytime. Water has to be heated on the gas stove and the clothes have to be washed when the taps supply water.”

Pure’s neighbour Vinita Singh has taken a slightly more optimistic view of the situation. Singh said, “Yes, I had to make many adjustments because of the water cut. But I feel that technically we don’t need as much water as we get. Mumbaikars waste a lot of water and such a cut will in fact make them realise the importance of using water judiciously.”

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