Khar Danda's Never-Ending Water Woes

The fishing village depends on one source for its water supply, while its population has also shot up in the last five years. Is there a solution?

- Sabah Virani

MUMBAI: On December 13, residents of Khar Danda had had enough. Not a drop of water had passed through their taps for five days, and anger was brewing. The fishing village receives water only from 6 pm to 10 pm every day. But residents' taps had been dry even during these four hours for the past five days.

"By 6:30 pm, when it looked like water wasn't going to come that day too, people were furious," said Manoj Koli, secretary of the Khar Danda Koliwada Gaonthan, a local fisher union. "Over 500 people came out of their homes and blocked the Khar Danda junction."

The police arrived within 10 minutes, but the crowd wouldn't listen. Vehicles started piling up at the vital junction between the Khar railway station, Carter Road and Pali Hill, and chaos ensued. They had the authorities' attention.

"BMC officials and MLA Ashish Shelar arrived, and only after many reassurances that water would be arranged by the next morning did people disperse by 9 pm," said Koli.

Khar Danda has faced persistent water supply issues for at least two years. "Water comes only in increments of seven to 15 minutes, the first batch having a strong dirty stench. The supply is just not enough," said Kunda Kale, a fisherwoman. Another resident, Ratan Bhagat, said, "The only way I manage is because my sons and their families do not live with me right now, but they're going to move back soon. I don't know how we will survive."

Those who can afford water tankers are few and far between, only ordering them in moments of extreme desperation. During that fateful week in December, many had no choice but to resort to bottled water for immediate needs.

"For a few days after the protest, water supply was better. But now it has gone back to the usual paltry and blinkered supply," said Kale.