KALYAN: Residents of 27 villages under the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), which depend on the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) for water supply, have been facing severe shortages since MIDC announced a weekly 36-hour shutdown. Amid growing complaints from residents and corporators, KDMC commissioner Abhinav Goel has questioned the need for the additional cut when the villages are already receiving barely half their approved water quota.Goel said the villages should receive 105 million litres per day (MLD) as per the approved allocation, but the actual supply from MIDC is only around 55 MLD. He questioned the rationale behind imposing a further 36-hour shutdown when the existing supply was already inadequate, warning that the weekly cut would worsen the situation.Speaking at the KDMC general body meeting on Wednesday, Goel said the civic administration would send a proposal to MIDC’s senior officials seeking the cancellation of the weekly shutdown. He also urged Mayor Harshali Chaudhari to take up the issue with the chief minister, deputy chief ministers and industries minister to ensure that the additional water cut was withdrawn.The issue was raised by BJP corporator Indira Tare, who moved an adjournment motion highlighting the acute water shortage in Ashele and Ashele Pada. She said residents in these areas sometimes go without water for as long as eight days and are forced to buy bottled drinking water to meet their daily needs.Tare questioned how residents would cope during the peak summer months if the situation was so severe in October. She urged the civic administration to intervene and find an immediate solution. Apart from Ashele Pada, several other areas across the 27 villages, particularly newly developed townships, are also facing acute water shortages.Responding to the concerns, Goel said KDMC pays the water supply bills for the 27 villages, which receive water from MIDC. Besides the shortfall in quantity, low water pressure further aggravates the crisis in these areas.“On one hand, the villages are receiving nearly 50% less water than their approved quota, and on the other, a 36-hour shutdown is being imposed every week. How justified is it to impose further cuts when the supply is already inadequate?” Goel asked.Following the commissioner’s announcement, Mayor Harshali Chaudhari also appealed to MIDC to withdraw the 50% water cut in the 27 villages.The weekly shutdown effectively reduces water supply to five days a week. Residents faced acute shortages after the first 36-hour shutdown, prompting the civic administration to seek its cancellation.Goel also warned that the ₹194-crore Amrut water supply scheme for the 27 villages would not achieve its intended objective unless MIDC supplied water as per the approved quota. Without an adequate bulk water supply, the new infrastructure would not be sufficient to resolve the crisis.
