AAP effect: Shiv Sena promises more free water in Mumbai

Uddhav Thackeray has already declared that the Shiv Sena is the original Aam Aadmi Party, and now the me-too syndrome is spreading fast through the party with the Sena’s leader in the Brihanmumbai MUnicipal Corporation, Rahul Shewale, claiming that the party is prepared to outdo the Aam Aadmi Party by providing 1,075 litres of water to every household in the financial capital, free of cost. [caption id=“attachment_940663” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Drinking water queues in Mumbai. AFP.[/caption] Mumbai, with an annual water requirement of 4,200 million litres per day (mld), is currently supplied about 3,700 mld. There is, apart from the deficit of about 500 mld, also a daily estimated wastage and loss (mostly due to leakages and some pilferage) of about 10 to 15 per cent of daily supply. Despite those numbers, chairman Rahul Shewale of the all-important Standing Committee in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, which is responsible for all expenditure by the country’s richest municipal corporation, now says the Middle Vaitarna dam will add enough to the supply so as to provide 1,075 litres per household. Shewale told The Times of India that the BMC spends about Rs 9.09 for every 1,000 litres of water for purification and transport. “We provide water at about Rs 4.30 per thousand litres to consumers in Mumbai, so we are already giving a subsidy of over 50% in water supply. In the future we are ready to handle additional demand and provide even more water to the city,” he is quoted as saying. Shewale is tipped to be a Lok Sabha election candidate from the Shiv Sena, most likely from the Mumbai South Central Parliamentary constituency earlier represented by former Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi. Some officials of the BMC, contrary to Shewale’s claims, reportedly say that while the supply for some families may already be close to 1,000 litres per day, offering a 100 percent subsidy would not be feasible. Water supply is expected to be on the agenda of the AAP’s campaign in Mumbai, one of the cities where the year-old party can fancy its chances. Like in Delhi, in Mumbai too, the party’s main issues will be housing, electricity and water supply, AAP representative Preeti Sharma Menon told NDTV.