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A right that doesn't hold water

Mumbai is not a water-stressed city. But the BMC's policies ensure that 2.5 million Mumbaikars - often the most vulnerable - are still deprived of piped waterThe Supreme Court once said that water is a "gift of nature". It failed to add that this "gift" is received disparately: to some, in abundance; to others, sparingly or not at all. The late novelist Kiran Nagarkar caustically captured the everyday struggle of working people for water, by personifying the mundane object that dispenses it: "The nature of the municipal water tap is feudal and bureaucratic. It replicates and clones the Almighty's manners and moodiness but never his generosity since its power is entirely derivative. It is a middleman, its patronage disburses what does not belong to it. The only way it can experience and feel power is to exert it erratically and often. Hence it is not enough that it calls the shots, it must perforce leave you in the dark. You are at its mercy. You are grateful for its bounties and contrite for its seasons of drought." On March 20, between 100 and 200 residents of Aarey Milk Colony marched to the CEO's office demanding water connections. Many of the Adivasi and workers' settlements of Aarey are still deprived of regular water supply, and like most settlements without municipal pipes, they have relied on water tankers, private vendors or surreptitious connections. Paradoxically, the eastern edge of Aarey Colony is just 500 meters away from Vihar Lake, the city's first and oldest water supply project. Mumbai's municipal water system is based on surface water storage reservoirs, created by constructing dams across river systems - most of them outside the metropolitan region. Over time, BMC engineers have developed an extensive water infrastructure network that conveys water from these primary sources to a system of service reservoirs across the city. Vihar Lake was completed in 1860; Tulsi in 1879; Powai in 1891 (no longer portable); Tansa in four stages between 1892 and 1948; Vaitarna in 1957; Upper Vaitarna in 1973; Bhatsa in three stages between 1981 and 1996; and Middle Vaitarna in 2014. Mumbai is not a water-stressed city. It gets 4,370 million litres of water per day, of which 3,975 reaches users (after accounting for transmission losses). If we set aside an estimated 20% diverted for commercial and industrial purposes, and 20% that goes "unaccounted for", we are still left with 2,385 million litres for a population of 13 million people. This works out to 183 litres per capita per day (lpcd), much more than the Ministry of Urban Development's 'service benchmark' of 135 lpcd. In short, there is more than enough water for everyone. Notwithstanding the universal 'service benchmark', what flows from a water tap (or its existence altogether) depends on social class. The BMC's water supply norm for planned constructions is 135 lpcd - a standard extended "on humanitarian grounds" even to formal buildings without occupational or completion certificates. Meanwhile, SRA buildings typically get 90 lpcd of water (or less). For authorised slums, the norm is 45 lpcd and until recently, the explicit policy was to deny water supply to unauthorised slums. Consequently, while property owners in Mumbai pay a subsidised rate of Rs 6.5 for 1000 litres, water is an expensive commodity in slum settlements. With 45 lpcd, slum dwellers are often compelled to source additional water from tankers (Rs 250 for 1000 litres) or purchase cans of water from private vendors (Rs 400-600 for 1000 litres). A Praja report estimates that households in authorised slums pay nearly 100 times more than those with municipal connections, which means that those without any connection pay even more. So why not provide municipal water at the same benchmark and subsidised rate to everyone? For many years, the authorities claimed that providing water in slums would "encourage the construction of such illegal slums and people occupying such illegal slums." This changed after Paani Haq Samiti successfully convinced the Bombay HC in 2014 that no one can be deprived of the right to life because the state deems their home illegal. The court declared that water is a constitutional right, and must be provided to all. Nevertheless, it added a proviso: the right cannot be claimed on par with "law abiding citizens" - families living in unauthorised homes could be provided less water at higher rates. The right to life exists, but just about. The court directed the BMC to prepare a policy to ensure 'water for all' within three months. It took three years. And when it arrived, it came with a host of exceptions. All 'unauthorised' slum settlements will get water - except those that exist on forest land, private land, central government land, pavements, and land identified for public projects. Settlements existing on land belonging to another public authority will get water only if the authority has no objection. After sustained pressure and advocacy by organisations like Paani Haq Samiti, the BMC revised its policy in 2022, with a promise to provide water to all - even to those earlier considered ineligible. Almost four years have passed, but activists estimate that 2.5 million people are still deprived of piped water. As the protest of the Aarey residents shows, the mere existence of a right or a policy does not guarantee its realisation. Hussain Indorewala is a teacher and urban researcher at KRVIA, Mumbai. Views are personal

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