Irrigation dept to file affidavit about water crisis in Panvel

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has asked the state irrigation department to file an affidavit stating how many million litres per day water will they provide to 270 villages of Panvel that are facing an acute water shortage. Meanwhile, Navi Mumbai Corporation is ready to supply 50 water tankers and CIDCO is also ready to give some water from their quota.

A division bench of Justice A.K. Menon and Bharti Dangre was hearing PIL filed by activist Vishnu Gavali pertaining to water shortage faced by 29 villages which are part of Panvel Municipal corporation, 71 villages from Panvel Panchayat Samiti and 270 villages affected by CIDCO’s Naina project.

Petitioner stated that on October 2016, 29 villages of Panvel nagar parishad were merged into the Panvel municipal corporation. There is 35-year-old pipeline to supply water to these villages but it has 100’s of leakages. The corporation is neither repairing the pipeline nor providing enough water to those villages.

On Wednesday, the court was informed by the Navi Mumbai corporation that it is ready to provide 50 tankers on humanitarian ground but it cannot give more water as they have to manage requirements of their own city.

CIDCO counsel informed it is using irrigation water for the construction work and it is ready to share some water to the village but it would not be sufficient for them to meet the requirement. They also suggested that there is Hetavane Dam near these villages and if state wants it can release some water for these villages.

The court then asked state government to file reply and kept the petition for further hearing on Friday.