·
Only one in four Public
Toilet Seats in Mumbai are for Women as of 2024 RTI data.
·
In 2023, one Community
Toilet seat in Mumbai serves 86 Men and 81 Women, which is much higher
than the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) norm of 35 Men and 25 Women per seat.
·
Out of the total Community
Toilet blocks (6,800) in Mumbai in 2023, 69% (4,518 out of 6,591) lack
water connections and 60% (4,010 out of 6,676) do not have electricity
connections.
·
As of 2024, Mumbai City
faces a 15% (689 MLD out of 4,664 MLD) shortfall in meeting the city's water
demand.
·
Mumbai receives an overall
average of 5.37 hours/day of water supply. Of which, non-slums in Mumbai
receive 135 litres per capita per day (lpcd) whereas slums receive only 45
lpcd, through metered connections.
·
Slum populations have to
rely on water tankers and other sources for the remaining water, which cost
approximately ₹750 per month.
·
Six out of eight Sewerage
Treatment Plants’s Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) fail to meet Central
Pollution Control Board (CPCB) norms.
·
The Mithi River is heavily
polluted, with faecal coliform levels (5,40,000 MPN/100ml) far exceeding the
CPCB limit of 2,500 MPN/100ml.
·
In 2024, approximate waste
of 24,37,420 MT was collected from all 24 BMC wards, and the average per day
was 6,656 MT.
Mumbai, May 20, 2025: Praja Foundation today launched its “Report
on the Status of Civic Issues in Mumbai,” with a focus on Water,
Sewerage, Solid Waste Management, Toilets and Air Quality. Mumbai’s civic body,
the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), stands out as one of the
wealthiest municipal corporations in the world. Its annual budget surpasses
that of many Indian states. For 2025-2026, the BMC announced its annual budget
to be ₹74,366.76 crores, 24% more than the last fiscal year.
Milind Mhaske, CEO of Praja Foundation states that, “Mumbai's
water supply system struggles with significant disparities between the
available water resources and how they are distributed throughout the city.
Mumbai receives 4,370 Million Liters Per Day (MLD) of water daily, but due to
pipeline losses, only 3,975 MLD reaches users. Despite the prescribed
guidelines by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the per capita supply meets
the national norms. Slum residents get around 45 litres/day versus 135
litres/day in non-slum areas. The Slum households therefore rely on costly
private tankers, paying ₹750/month, compared to ₹25.76/month for metered users.
The promise of 24x7 water supply remains unfulfilled, with only 8% of city
zones get round-the-clock water in 2024, while 71% receive upto four hours
daily.”
Solid waste management (SWM) in the city is also
declining. Complaints about it have increased by 380% (5,213 to 25,031) since
2015. The city still relies on two large dumping grounds at Deonar and
Kanjurmarg. Recently, the Bombay High Court has directed the civic officials to
look for an alternate dumping ground and stop using Kanjurmarg.
BMC's
Environment Status Report (ESR) 2023-2024 reveals that 5,500 metric tonnes per
day (MTD) of waste goes to Kanjurmarg landfill and 700 MTD goes to Deonar
dumping ground. However, data received through the Right to Information Act
paints a different picture. It shows that, in 2024, 6.7 lakh MTD (1,841/day) of
waste was transported to Deonar and 18.3 lakh MTD (5,018/day) of waste was
dumped at Kanjurmarg. The discrepancies evident in the data raises serious
concerns about whether statutory instruments such as ESR reports are being duly
considered.
Shreyas Chorgi, Manager of Research and Analysis at Praja
Foundation, noted, in 2024 “Mumbaikars have recorded over
1.15 lakh citizen complaints—a sharp 70% increase compared to 2015. Through
Mumbai’s Centralised Complaint Registration System (CCRS) in the last 10 years,
there has been a 380% increase in complaints of SWM, air pollution complaints
have increased by 334%, and drainage complaints have risen by 59%. In 2024,
from the total of 14,522 water-related complaints, 44% were of shortage of
water. Time taken to resolve all complaints also increased from 32 days in
2023 to 41 days in 2024.”
Praja Foundation’s report strongly suggests
constructing sufficient functioning public and community toilets. We also
recommend implementing 100% metered water connections in slums to allow them to
access the required quantity of water. We also propose that biodegradable waste
should be composted and promote the circular economy model, where waste is
treated as a resource and reused, recycled, or repurposed.
Mr. Mhaske says, “To strengthen service delivery, BMC
must improve CCRS by ensuring timely complaint redressal, introduce a citizen
feedback system for greater accountability, and be democratically empowered as
per the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act. Lately, BMC’s ESR’s data has
been conflicting with the data collected through RTIs. ESR is an important tool
that needs to be used for the betterment of civic issues in the city and in the
absence of elected representatives, administrators need to be more vigilant
about it.”
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