WATER SCARCITY (fka )

[SPARK]

India - IMRAN FAZAL | Sun, 14 Feb 2016-07:30am , dna

The water cuts on Wednesday and Thursday with addition water cuts on weekends has left residents into a tizzy.

With water cuts and shortage in Thane and Kalyan-Dombivali, the prices of water containers and tanks have raised after an increase in demand, as the residents are looking for more storage options to suffice daily needs.

The water cuts on Wednesday and Thursday with addition water cuts on weekends has left residents into a tizzy. The four day water cuts have led the residents to purchase tanks and drums for water storage. The residents earlier had limited storage tanks. However, they are now looking to increase storage capacity, keeping in mind, the summer season and the drastically increasing water cuts in the region. The only hopes, residents have is a heavy rainfall this monsoon to avoid problems next year.

Pallavi Sawant, a resident of Kalwa, said, "We have no option but to store water as much as we can and minimise the water usage so that the four days of water cuts does not affect our daily needs. We have also increased the storage capacity."

"We have been suffering already due to water cuts and further cuts has added more woes to our daily life and the storage containers have also become costly due to demands", said Kaushik Sabnis, a resident of Vartak Nagar.

Due to increase in demand of tanks and drums for storing water, prices have sky-rocketed. A 100 litre drum now costs around Rs400 while a 250 litre drum costs Rs1000 as compared to the cheaper rates. While black storage tanks of 1000 litre capacity cost Rs 2900, white tanks of the same quantity cost Rs3700.

Sandeep Mayekar, storage tank seller, Ghodbunder road, said, "The branded company distributors increase the prices during water shortage and we have to charge the consumers more, who are left with no options but to purchase the tanks at the said price."

He added, "With more housing complexes being developed in the region, need for storage tanks and drums has increased due to severe water scarcity in the region."

However, using inferior quality storage containers manufactured in the chemical factories can lead to skin diseases and ailments.

"It is important that the residents use good quality containers as chemicals used in the inferior quality products could lead to rashes and skin ailments, while, it is also important to clean the container once a month to avoid fungus and mud collection inside the tank,' said Dr Dnyaneshwar Tipre.