THANE, March 21 -- Residents of Mahavir Kalpvriksh, a housing society in Kasarvadavali, Ghodbunder Road, Thane, started buying water from five tankers daily two weeks ago to offset the paucity of municipal supply, which has now scaled up to 10 tankers daily. With each tanker costing Rs.2,500, the 420-flat complex is staring at an unusually expensive summer. Narayan Mane, secretary of Mahavir Kalpvriksh, said the society experienced a 50% drop in supply two weeks ago. "We pay for municipal water charges and are paying for tankers. If the supply does not improve soon, we will have to increase monthly maintenance charges for each flat to meet the additional water expenses," said Mane. This is not an isolated case, as several areas under the jurisdiction of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), such as Ghodbunder Road, Kalwa and Mumbra have been grappling with a nearly 50% reduction in water supply recently, severely disrupting citizens' daily lives. Chairpersons, secretaries and residents of housing societies that Hindustan Times spoke to claimed the present scenario was the result of TMC deliberately curtailing supply, to allegedly benefit private water tanker operators. As a result, some societies are spending over Rs.25,000 each day to meet their water needs. Some also alleged that tanker operators have damaged pipelines to exacerbate shortages and increase dependence on private supply. Amid the ongoing crisis, opposition leader from NCP (SP) in TMC, Shanu Pathan conducted a survey of the 17-kilometre water pipeline stretching from the water treatment plant in Pise (Bhiwandi), one of the suppliers to Thane, on Tuesday and reportedly found illegal tapping points at intervals of nearly every 10 metres. "These unauthorized connections are estimated to be siphoning off around 70 MLD (million litres) of water daily. The stolen water is being diverted to nearby warehouses and industrial units, worsening shortages for residents and financial losses worth crores for the civic body," said Pathan, in a press release issued the same day. To highlight the problem of scarcity, Abhijit Pawar, NCP (SP) corporator from Kalwa, staged a protest by bathing from a bucket of water at the TMC headquarters last Wednesday. He claimed that there is a daily shortfall of over 71 MLD across areas under TMC, including 14-15 MLD in Kalwa, 14 MLD in Mumbra and 12 MLD in Diva. "TMC officials refuse to acknowledge that there is any shortage. Anand Vihar, a housing complex in Kalwa comprising over 3500 residents, has not received a single drop of water in last two days," said Pawar. Officials in TMC's water supply department said the civic body supplies 590 MLD of water daily against a demand of 621 MLD, resulting in a shortfall of 31 MLD. The civic body draws water from four sources in Shahpur linked to the Bhatsa dam. With rapid urban development, the demand for water is expected to rise - a fact that the civic body has repeatedly presented to the state government, urging it to allocate additional water from Kalu and Shahi dams in Shahpur. The proposal is still pending with the state government. TMC officials however denied any water cuts being imposed in its jurisdiction. Vinod Pawar, deputy commissioner of the water supply department, said, "While there is no water cut implemented by TMC, some areas may experience low pressure. There is however no plan to reduce supply till the monsoons. We have sufficient water." Residents then wonder why they are being deprived of the basic commodity. Sachin Khedekar, chairman of Runwal Estate, Manpada, said, "Our complex has six societies and around 450 flats. Over the past two weeks, we have been getting water supply for only 1.5 to 2 hours a day. Whenever we approach the TMC with complaints, officials blame it on low water pressure, saying the overhead storage tanks are not filling up sufficiently, which affects distribution." He added that after repeated complaints, the civic body temporarily regularises the supply of two hours in the morning and evening each, "which lasts for just a couple of days, and then it is back to scarcity". Rohit Gaikwad, a resident of Mahavir Kalpvriksh, highlighted instances of wastage, as he said, "I saw a broken pipeline on Ghodbunder Road recently with thousands of litres of water being wasted, and no TMC staff present to fix it. We suspect deliberate damage by tanker operators to create artificial scarcity, in connivance of the TMC officials."...