Water crisis in Ghodbunder Road area, don’t issue occupation certificates till June 9: Bombay HC to Thane civic body

A division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice G S Kulkarni was hearing a petition filed by Mangesh Shelar, who stated that the Thane Municipal Corporation had issued notification for water cuts on February 6 and 7, 2016.

The petition claimed that construction sites were provided with water regularly and that there was no concrete plan to address the issue of water shortage in the booming satellite town of Thane. Ghodbunder Road is a hub of real estate developments.

“Construction activities can wait but living things require water,” said the court.

Taking into account the water scarcity in Mumbai that led to orders being passed by court and also drinking water scarcity faced by residents of Pune city, the High Court said: “One can notice that construction consumes huge quantities of potable water. In most parts of Maharashtra, water is very important owing to its shortage. The corporation cannot run away from its responsibility simply by stating it has enough water.”

The court also said that large quantity of water is used for construction of highrises but the residents who eventually live in them are only supplied water upon payment of hefty prices and are left at the mercy of builders.During the previous hearing in the matter, the court had pulled up the TMC saying: “If water problem of Thane district is not handled properly then the situation will become like Marathwada.”