BMC on Tuesday played down reports of a spike in water contamination cases in the city.

Mumbaikars woke up to heavy rains and cool temperatures on Sunday morning . But the relief in a season marked with parsimonious showers did not extend to the lakes supplying water to the city.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) plans to acquire all privately-owned wells in the city to tide over the 10 per cent water cut that was recently extended till July-end. There are approximately 784 private wells in the city and the BMC will solicit the Collector’s assistance in acquiring them.

The civic body told its Standing Committee on Wednesday that a plan has already been put forward to repair and clean the 789 public wells that belong to BMC. According to Additional Municipal Commissioner Mohan Adtani, the plan includes cleaning wells that are unused since 2009. “Ward officers have been instructed to collect information on the state of wells in their jurisdiction along with records of their water levels.”

MUMBAI: Here's some good news for water-parched Mumbaikars. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which has sought additional water from the state government-run Upper Vaitarna and Bhatsa dams, will soon get it.

A map of the world

Mumbai, July 10 BMC says nothing to panic, drinking water safe, but decomposing fish worries locals Thousands of dead fish were found floating on the Bhatsa river, which supplies water to Mumbai, early on Thursday morning, spreading panic in a Thane village, and nearby areas. While some attributed the large number deaths to pollution and use of chemicals in the fields, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said there is no reason to panic and the drinking water is safe for consumption.

The BMC has decided to put its foot down in the issue between Mumbai and Thane over water supply. At a meeting between the two municipal corporations and state Water Supply and Sanitation department on Wednesday, the BMC officials will state that that using Mumbai's conveyance system for supplying 100 million litres a day (mld) of water from Bhatsa dam to Thane will result in the city reeling under a water shortage.

Thane's notorious water scarcity crisis might be on its way to becoming even worse with the Thane Municipal Council announcing that the first phase of its proposed water supply project is running behind schedule by a month. The civic body missed the March 31 deadline and it was expected that the authorities would meet the April 15 deadline. Now the masses and their representatives will have to wait till May 12 to see if the revised deadline is met or not. Till then, Thane citizens have no choice but to suffer the water scarcity.