The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) standing committee has rejected a proposal worth ₹8.25 crore to wash 677 km of city roads daily to reduce dust pollution, citing Mumbai’s ongoing 10% water cut and dwindling reserves in its supplying dams.
The proposal faced opposition from members across party lines, including representatives of the ruling alliance, as Maharashtra grapples with drought conditions and the state government seeks more than ₹17,000 crore in central assistance. The BMC estimates that existing dam stocks will last until June next year.
BJP group leader Ganesh Khankar called for the proposal to be withdrawn, arguing that spending large quantities of water on road cleaning was inappropriate under the prevailing circumstances.
Opposition Questions Water Availability
Congress member Ashraf Azmi supported road cleaning as a pollution-control measure but questioned the availability of water for the exercise. He said: “The AQI today is 151, and BMC does not have any programme to curtail air pollution. There are 4,000 wells in the city. BMC had earlier said that it would revive wells to supply non-potable water in the city. However, nothing has been done so far. From where will you get the water required for washing roads, then?”
Azmi also urged the civic body to introduce a dedicated Hydrant Policy to tackle rising dust and air pollution while improving water arrangements for fire services and gardens.
MNS member Yashwant Killedar highlighted the need to control road dust without wasting potable water. He said, “While the current situation may not be right for using water to wash roads, there is also the issue of road dust contributing to rising pollution. Using non-potable water is one of the solutions to control dust, but where will BMC get so much non-potable water when it has only one centre for treating sewage water? Why are you not working on creating infrastructure for processing sewage water? BMC should have looked at other solutions to control dust pollution without wasting water.
BMC’s Proposed Cleaning Plan
Civic officials maintained that the plan would use non-potable water. It envisaged deploying water tankers fitted with jetting systems across Mumbai’s seven zones for 150 days. Tankers with capacities of 2,000, 5,000 and 10,000 litres would spray roads at high pressure to remove dust and improve cleanliness.
However, the committee rejected the expenditure amid concerns over water availability.
Source: Times of India
