Thousands in Aarey’s Royal Palms struggle as water supply collapses

Thousands of residents across more than 40 societies in Royal Palms Estate Aarey are struggling to access basic water supplies after the ongoing Mumbai water tanker strike cut off their primary source of waterWith many societies lacking Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC water connections and relying almost entirely on private tankers and borewells residents say they have been pushed to the brink Borewells have run dry amid the summer heat while tanker services remain suspended indefinitelyDeepak Khamkar points to a nearby BMC water pipeline which residents say runs close to their building despite the society not having a municipal water connectionThe only available alternative 20 to 25litre drinking water cans is becoming increasingly difficult to source as demand surges across the area Residents claim the crisis has forced families to skip baths and laundry take leave from work move children to relatives homes and spend hundreds to thousands of rupees daily on waterLetter to Deputy CMIn a letter dated June 8 addressed to Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde residents described the situation as a recurring humanitarian crisisExcerpt from the letter ldquoBasic things like cooking drinking water sanitation and maintaining personal hygiene have become extremely difficultrdquoA screenshot shows drinking water listed as unavailable on a quickcommerce platform as demand surges across Royal Palms during the tanker strikeRoyal Palms water crisisSocieties affected 40Estimated residents impacted Nearly 30000Tanker requirement 1012 large tankers per society dailyBMC water connection Not available in several societiesCurrent situation Borewells dry tanker supply suspendedAdditional annual water cost per household Up to Rs 50000Cost burden Families spending up to Rs 1000 daily on water cansGround reportmidday visited Piccadilly 1 CHS on Tuesday where residents said water cans are now the only source of water Residents claimed even these supplies are becoming scarce as demand increases Several families reported postponing laundry reducing water consumption and relying on outside food to copePolitical reactionSandeep Ghadave Shiv Sena UBT Shakha PramukhldquoLocals are fed up People are wondering why water connections have not been provided despite repeated demands The scarcity is so severe that residents are unable to source water even through quickdelivery platformsrdquoWhy residents are strugglinggtgt No regular BMC water connectiongtgt Dependence on private water tankersgtgt Borewells running dry during summergtgt Indefinite tanker strikegtgt Rising demand for drinking water cansgtgt Limited availability of packaged waterBackgroundWhy are tankers off the roadThe Mumbai Water Tankers Association MWTA suspended tanker services across the city from Sunday night and says the strike will continue indefinitely until its demands are addressedWhat the association wantsgtgt Amendments to the latest Central Ground Water Authority CGWA guidelinesgtgt Changes to regulations governing groundwater extractionVoice of residentsAtanu Mishra 30ldquoMy wife is pregnant my mother is a senior citizen and we donrsquot have water even for basic necessities like the washroom and kitchen I had to take leave from the office just to arrange a few water canisters People have shifted to their relativesrsquo homes I am from Kolkata I donrsquot even have that option I paid over R26 lakh for my studio apartment five years ago At that time I was told a BMC connection was coming It has still not arrivedrdquoDeepak Khamkar 39ldquoI had to send my wife and children to my relativesrsquo house because of this issue They keep asking when they can come back For years we have paid extra water charges Today a household spends around Rs 50000 annually on waterrelated expenses Ten years ago it was Rs 25000 and in 2021 it was Rs 30000rdquoSheetal Sawant 32ldquoWe raise this issue every year yet there has been no relief There is no water even for cooking We are forced to spend extra on outside food and bottled waterrdquoBindu Choubey 49ldquoWe are a family of six We are spending at least Rs 1000 extra every day on water canisters while cutting down on laundry baths and dishwashingrdquoSociety speakSonal Ranade president Piccadilly 1 CHSldquoI have been highlighting this issue in the media for years We face this crisis whenever tanker operators go on strike There is not enough water even for sanitary use in the building The government has failed to provide us with a water connection despite us having all valid documents including the OC and CC Why was an Occupation Certificate issued if the building did not have a water supply connectionrdquo