Mumbai: Less than 24 hours after BMC invoked Disaster Management Act to take control of private wells, borewells and tankers, Mumbai Water Tankers Association (MWTA) withdrew its strike on Monday, bringing relief to several parts of the city that depend on tankers.
Rajesh Thakur, general secretary of MWTA, said all tanker operators were directed to resume operations immediately. “We’ve requested members to run tankers overnight, if needed, to ensure water reaches areas in need,” said association vice-president Jeetu Shah.
MWTA had gone on an ‘indefinite break’ on April 10 after the civic body issued notices to well owners to get NOCs from Central Ground Water Authority as per revised guidelines, failing which permits were to be cancelled. While the association had said that an NOC was only needed for drinking water and not the non-potable water it supplies, BMC had asserted that action would be taken if extraction continued without approval. The compliance date was later deferred to June 15.
Thakur said the decision to call off the strike came after BMC chief Bhushan Gagrani assured the tanker operators at a meeting on Monday morning that no action would be taken against them. However, Gagrani issued a firm warning: if the strike continued, BMC would step in to take control of wells and tankers from Tuesday. The civic chief also assured MWTA of administrative support in conveying its demands to central govt authorities. In a statement, BMC said, “…technical matters fall under the jurisdiction of govt and BMC cannot intervene in them.” Shah thanked MLA Murji Patel for facilitating the dialogue with civic authorities.
Prior to the strike being called off, Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray had posted on X that “the only way out” of the stalemate would be if the BMC chief gave MWTA the assurance that tanker operators would not be penalised at all.
BMC was prompted to invoke Disaster Management Act—usually used in times of natural disasters—owing to fears that in the absence of non-potable water, the pressure would fall on drinking water supply during summer.
