Former Union Minister and Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari has urged Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria to introduce targeted welfare measures for the city’s urban poor and lower middle-class households, including 300 units of free electricity and 20,000 litres of free water a month for families earning below Rs 20,000.
Mumbai’s water supply is set to get a massive boost of 3,000 million litres per day (MLD)—nearly doubling the current supply—by 2030, as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is set to construct two water treatment plants (WTP) at Bhandup and Panjrapur.This is part of the BMC’s move to upgrade Mumbai’s water supply infrastructure to meet future demand. The move also comes in line with the Mahayuti securing a majority in the civic elections held in February. The Mahayuti had promised to upgrade Mumbai’s water supply network.The move also comes during the summer, when the BMC implements supply cuts to avoid water shortages. Mumbai has a water demand of 4,300 MLD, but the civic body is now able to supply only 3,850 MLD. A WTP is an engineering facility where water is treated to make it fit for potable usage. Mumbai draws its potable water from seven different lakes—Tulsi, Vihar, Tansa, Bhatsa, Modak Sagar, Upper Vaitarna, and Middle Vaitarna. At present, water from these lakes is transported to the Bhandup filtration plant, where it is filtered; the treated water is then sent to households and institutions. The Bhandup plant is Mumbai’s sole WTP, established in 1978. Over time, the facility has become old. Meanwhile, Mumbai’s water demand has also increased, and the Bhandup plant is equipped to treat a maximum of 2,810 MLD. With several water supply projects underway, the BMC has proposed augmenting the supply chain, under which the Bhandup plant will have a capacity to treat 2,000 MLD of water daily, while the Panjrapur facility will have a capacity to treat 910 MLD. These two facilities will be equipped to treat and supply 3,000 MLD of water daily, which will be nearly double the quantum supplied today.Story continues below this ad “In the next five years, several water supply projects are going to come up, including the 400-MLD desalination plant and the 450-MLD Gargai dam project. In total, the city will get an additional 850 MLD of water daily starting in 2029. As a result, there is a need to upgrade the filtration system, or else our existing facility will be inadequate,” an official told The Indian Express. The official said that once these two new facilities at Bhandup and Panjrapur become operational, the old WTP will be upgraded, providing another backup support for treating 2,000 MLD of water regularly. The cost of these two plants has been pegged at Rs 4,210 crore, and the BMC aims to commission them by 2030. The project is being awarded to the French giant Veolia, which will execute it with Welspun. Seven sewage treatment plants In addition to the desalination plant and the Gargai dam projects, the BMC is also constructing seven sewage treatment plants (STP) at a cost of Rs 27,700 crore at Worli, Dharavi, Bhandup, Ghatkopar, Bandra, Versova, and Malad. These STPs will treat Mumbai’s sewage water to make it pollutant-free and fit for non-potable usage.Story continues below this ad These seven STPs will have a combined capacity to treat 2,464 MLD, out of which 50 per cent or 1,232 MLD will be used for potable purposes. As a result, in addition to the 850 MLD of water that will come from the desalination plant and Gargai dam, an additional 1,232 MLD of water will also be pushed to the WTPs for treatment. In total, Mumbai will require daily treatment of 5,132 MLD of water by 2030.
Former Union Minister and Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari has urged Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria to introduce targeted welfare measures for the city’s urban poor and lower middle-class households, including 300 units of free electricity and 20,000 litres of free water a month for families earning below Rs 20,000.In a four-page communication, Tewari highlighted the economic distress faced by vulnerable sections and called for policy intervention to ensure affordability and dignity in basic living. He said many families were struggling with rising food inflation, the escalating cost of living, and mounting financial pressures.Referring to his visits across Chandigarh over the past 23 months, including urban villages and rehabilitation colonies, Tewari said he had witnessed first-hand the hardship faced by residents. “Many families are unable to pay lease rentals or licence fees for their small flats in relief and rehabilitation colonies, leading to cancellation notices and heavy interest demands from the Administration,” he said. Arguing that Chandigarh has the fiscal space for such relief, Tewari cited budget figures from Demand No. 53 of the Ministry of Home Affairs in the Union Budget 2026-27. He noted that Chandigarh’s actual spend in 2024-25 was Rs 6,598.19 crores, with net expenditure of Rs 5,858.93 crores, including Rs 1,027.87 crores on Power and Renewable Energy. For 2025-26, Rs 917.87 crores had been earmarked for Power and Renewable Energy, but revised estimates brought that figure down sharply to Rs 279.82 crores after power distribution in Chandigarh was privatised on February 1, 2025, with Chandigarh Power Distribution Limited (CPDL), a subsidiary of Eminent Electricity Distribution Limited (EEDL), taking over operations from the Engineering Department’s Electricity Wing. For 2026-27, only Rs 171.86 crores has been estimated for Power and Renewable Energy. Tewari said this represented a reduction of Rs 856.01 crores compared to the actual spend in 2024-25. “That is the fiscal space the Chandigarh Administration must leverage to provide 300 units of free electricity to families with a monthly income below Rs 20,000,” he said. He suggested the Administration seek Rs 856-1,000 crores through Supplementary Demands for Grants in September-October 2026 to reimburse CPDL for free power supplied from July 1, 2026. “This is the model already being followed in Delhi and Punjab, where governments reimburse distribution companies for free or subsidised power supplied to consumers,” he said.Story continues below this ad Tewari also argued that Chandigarh, as a Union Territory funded directly by the Centre, was better placed than Punjab to provide such relief. He noted that Punjab, despite a projected debt liability of Rs 4.47 lakh crores by March 31, 2027, and a debt-to-GDP ratio of 46.65 per cent, continues to provide free power. He further pointed to the Centre’s large welfare spending, citing schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, which provides free food grains to 81.5 crore people at an annual cost of Rs 2.27 lakh crores; PM-KISAN, under which Rs 6,000 is given annually to 9.32 crore farmers at a cost of Rs 63,500 crores; and MGNREGA, with an annual budget of Rs 86,000 crores that provided employment to 7.88 crore people in 2024-25. On free water, Tewari recalled that on March 11, 2024, Congress and AAP councillors passed a resolution in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation’s General House to provide free water to residents. Though the resolution was initially rejected by then Administrator Banwari Lal Purohit, the General House reaffirmed it on July 10, 2024. Tewari said the resolution remains valid but has not been implemented. He said estimates placed the cost of supplying free water to all Chandigarh residents at Rs 39.65 crores as of March 30, 2024. Restricting the benefit to households earning below Rs 20,000 a month would cost only about a quarter of that amount, which, he sa
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