Over 100 women from Shivaji Nagar slum on Sunday staged a rasta roko at Royal Lane, Juhu Tara Road, to protest against the acute water shortage. The agitation brought traffic to a halt for around ten minutes. The city is facing an acute water crisis, with 15 per cent cut till July next year, the situation is likely to worsen in the coming months.

“Officials at the municipal ward office say they are supplying water to our area, but it has been three days without water. We have to rope in private water tankers, which are expensive,” said Suman Maruti, one of the protesters. The women raised slogans and demanded that municipal officials immediately ensure prompt water supply in their area.

Mumbai’s water needs are met by six lakes — Bhatsa, Tansa, Upper Vaitarna, Modak Sagar, Tulsi and Vihar. The city gets 2,100 mld from Bhatsa and 554 mld from Upper Vaitarna, the share set by the state government. Mumbai, which is already facing a water deficit, will soon be supplied 320-330 mld less every day. Mumbai now gets 3,400 MLD while the demand is 4,250 million litres per day. Also, a large quantity of water is lost through leakages and illegal connections.

Following Sunday’s protest in Juhu, the local corporator assured that the matter would be resolved shortly. “Early this morning, there was very little water supply, which prompted the rasta roko. However, in the afternoon there was a steady supply. In the past two days, there was shortage of water in other areas too as repair work was on,” said Barudgar Abdul Aziz, corporator of the area.

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