[Reader-list] more on water

Mon Apr 3 09:49:32 IST 2006

3rd Posting: 
Working Title: WATER LENSES 
Prelude for new imagination for urban water of Mumbai.

  Apology for delay! Infact I was waiting for 1st April since had to visit Gharapuri village and meet the sarpanch. I will elaborate about the findings in the story mentioned below, but in short the Gharapuri village is part of the world Heritage Site of Elepahanta Caves and the locals have recently voiced their grievances, in demand for basic facilities of water supply and electricity. Before lengthening this posting, I would like to clear the argument that I intends to make through this research paper. It tries to investigate the systems that community or individuals have developed to acquire, distribute and consume the water in the city of Mumbai. It does not try to highlight the illegal realm that the systems are exposed to, but would try and understand the related manifestations, which ranges from informal distribution network, an enterprise depended on water, a group developed against water problem to the individual perception and practices towards water. To
 generalize, I have used the term Territory, a reference from the synopsis of PhD. thesis titled, The informal economy of water and sustainable development by Anastasia Anguelatou, 2005. I dont claim that all the stories that I will be presenting are unique cases of Mumbai only, but in a way are placed in context of the economic development, representing scenrios of most of the third world cities. 

The third posting includes a narration on:
A water shortage problem in villages where Elephanta Caves are situated, which claims to be world Heritage Site. 
Dhobighat which contributes about 4-5 crore rupees to villages per year and contrary depends upon 30  40% water supply thru illegal connections 

A story of World Heritage Site: Elephanta Caves

  For many years it has been weekend picnic spot for Mumbaikers and the influx of tourist suddenly increased after it getting recognition of World Heritage Site. In the advent of increasing awareness on the heritage conservation and as one of the requirement of UNESCO for a site to be qualified under World Heritage list, a renowned trust working in area of conservation along with Archeological Survey of India (ASI) have prepared a  management plan for the site. The core area under consideration includes one of the 3 villages, which becomes entry point to the caves and also support tourist activities (hotels, shops, eateries, etc). On other hand, the villagers are screaming against the injustice by the authority. The basic demands include water supply, electricity, medical facilities and recognized school. The villages do not have any pipe water supply and the villagers fetch water from the nearby wells.
(3 villages depend on 7 wells, which do not have perennial source). In this aspect recently villagers of Gharapuri under the leadership of their sarpanch had given ultimatum to the government to provide the minimum services, failing of which tourist will not be permitted to enter the site. About 10 lakh tourists visit the caves every year, of which 1.5 lakh are foreigners and they shell out $5 to ASI and about $50-60 when they are accompanied by tourist guide. 
The local economy and the livelihood of 1200 villagers depend only on the tourist activities. The water needed for hotels is taken from the nearby well and during the dry spell (April to June of every year) water is supplied from Mumbai.  A boat carrying tank of 10 thousand liters of water daily, twice a day is supplied to the Shet Bandar (village at the entrance of the site). The required amount for the supply from Mumbai is subsidized by the zilla parishad. 
The allied activities include selling of water in plastic bottles, which is filled up from the spring water source at the caves. The water from this specific spring is allowed to be used by villagers only and livelihood of 40 - 50 families depend upon the selling of water, earning about Rs. 50 per day. The other income source of the villagers is through posing for foreigners with water pots on the head, some time up to two levels, which are normally empty without any water.

A Story of Dhobighat:   

A 2- 3 minutes walk from the Mahalakshmi station and some meters below the road level one of the so called Tourist destinations which is assumed to be thriving. Dhobighat with the approximate area of 2,10,000 Sq.ft. was established during British regime and continue to functions after undergoing transformation, due to mechanized methods of washing. Definitely the technology (electric washing and driers) and has speedened the process and has caused substantial reduction in space that would be otherwise required for the same activity. The activity has also triggered for developing newer occupations within and outside the enclave such as ironing stalls, retail of washing powder, shops dealing in machine repair, chemicals etc. that are found adjoining the outer periphery of the enclave. 
The activity is performed under the aegis of Dhobi Kalyan Adhunik Vikas Co-Op society.  The prospective clients include from the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) hospitals, Caterers, Laundries, Garment factories  (which is termed as Bada kaam),Offices, Restaurants, Private firms, to the clothes from Residential Buildings (termed as Chotta kaam).There are approximately  1026 patthar (washing stone or washing units) and is either owned or rented within the dhobi community. The monthly rent to the MMC is Rs. 300 which includes the sheer rent of washing unit and the water charges. Each enterprise owns one patthar and depending upon his business other adjoining patthars are taken on rent. Increase in the patthar and subsequently the business, demands for more water resources, which can be easily availed illegally by paying 15-20 thousands to the concerned authority. As per the locals, this phenomenon is increasing and presently 30-40 % supply might be through illegal
 connections. In addition, the electric supply needed for operating machines is also illegally purchased from other agencies that have electrical meters at a fixed rate that ranges between Rs.200 to Rs. 400 per month.
At the rate Rs. 2 per hour of cloth wash, each working Dhobi earns anywhere between approximate Rs. 200 to Rs.350 per day. Of the 1026 patthars or wash stones 100 are non functional and  each patthar generates approximate Rs. 400 to Rs 600 per day and Rs. 12,000 to Rs.18, 000 per month. The annual turn over of Dhobighat is thus estimated at about 10 to 12 crores of rupees of which approximate Rs. 2,00,000 is paid as patthar/wash stone rent per year to the MMC. Other than the tax paid to the MMC, water and electric supply is illegally purchased from other agencies that have electrical meters at a fixed rate that ranges between Rs.200 to Rs. 400 per month. 
Out of the effort, a dhobi is able to send in Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 16,000 back home to his villages, for the family and through the Dhobhighat at Mahalaxmi alone, the city, contributes anywhere between 8 to 10 crores of rupees to the villages, each year.
Over the years, the Dhobhighats have been hugely promoted as a potential tourist site in the city. The overview of this enclave from the nearby Mahalaxmi station bridge attracts not only tourists but also even pedestrians to view the exhibition taking place in the commune below. 

TUSHAR BHOR
ARCHITECT and INDEPENDENT RESEARCHER.

Residence Address: 
10/60, Madhu Sadan,Sion(w),Mumbai400022,Maharashtra,India.
Tel. No: +91 22 24083828.
Mobile: +91 98190 35176.
E mail: tushar_bhor at yahoo.com

---------------------------------
Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. PC-to-Phone calls for ridiculously low rates.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20060402/3fc5bbfa/attachment.html 