According to World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in its recent thirty cities in India which includes Mumbai, Kolkata, Jaipur, Amritsar and Kozhikode could dramatically witness increased water risks unless urgent action is taken to mitigate the upcoming doom. Besides the Indian cities, some of the cities across the world who could suffer the same fate are Beijing, with China accounting for almost half the cities, besides Jakarta, Johannesburg, Istanbul, Hong Kong, Mecca and Rio de Janeiro.
As per information, 785 million people – 1 in 9 – lack access to safe water and 2 billion people – 1 in 3 – lack access to a toilet across the planet. According to the WWF, the 100 cities that are expected to suffer the maximum due to the rise in water risk by 2050 are home to at least 350 million people which include crucial national and global economies. Amidst the problems of climate change and global warming, the Smart Cities initiative undertaken by the government of India could offer an integrated urban water management framework combining urban planning, ecosystem restoration and wetland conservation for building future-ready, water-smart and climate-resilient cities. However, in the time to come, if adequate steps are not taken to mitigate these persistent issues, the country and the world at large, could be facing one of the biggest calamities of all times.
From December 7 to 13 Mumbaikars will face water cut by 10 per cent. Earlier, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had proposed December 3 to 9 time period for it. Last year owing to poor rains, Mumbai faced 10 per cent water cut almost for a period of eight months starting from November.
BMC officials said that the reason for postponing the water cut was owing to the lakhs of followers of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar which are expected to throng Dadar’s Chaityabhoomi for the Mahaparinirvan Diwas (death anniversary), which is observed on December 6 from all across the state. Therefore, to avoid inconvenience to them, civic officials said that the dates for the 10 per cent water cut have been changed. The cut is being imposed as the BMC has proposed to carry out repairs to the gates of Pise Pumping Station as a part of regular maintenance work. The seven lakes from where Mumbai currently receives water are – Bhatsa, Tulsi, Vihar, Middle Vaitarna, Modak Sagar, Tansa and Upper Vaitarna.
