The Mumbai Water Tanker Association (MWTA) on Monday announced that it has decided to call off its on going strike leading the city to face water crisis.
The water tanker association`s strike, which began at midnight on April 10 2025, was called off after almost 4 days and tanker services will resume immediately, the officials confirmed.
Around 1,800 tankers supply approximately 250 to 300 million litres of non-potable water and 50 million litres of potable water daily. The strike had caused significant disruption to water supply in various parts of the city.
Earlier, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had decided to take over most private tankers and groundwater sources under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, thereby ensuring that the supply of water via tankers resumes on Monday.
Civic chief Bhushan Gagrani had earlier confirmed the development and told mid-day, “The BMC is taking over the tanker water supply.” Despite efforts by the BMC, tanker operators refused to resume their services. As the city reels under the intense summer swelter, a serious question has arisen regarding essential water needs. Considering this situation, and in the public interest, the BMC administration has opted to implement the Disaster Management Act, 2005, to resolve this issue. Also, under Sections 34(a) and 65(1) of the Act, the BMC administration has decided to take over and manage the supply of essential services through private tankers, civic officials told mid-day.
Meanwhile, the MWTA had told earlier told mid-day that it was considering approaching the court to stay the civic body’s hand.
The civic officials had on Sunday said that the decision to take over tankers was taken as their operations did not resume even after BMC put a stay on its restrictions on borewell and ring well owners operating without new Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) licences until June 15.
They had said that the transport commissioner had details about the 1800 tankers that supply water to the city and officers in every ward were aware of the location where they are parked
The CGWA made certain guidelines mandatory to obtain these licences and the BMC started issuing notices to borewell operators lacking them. From Thursday, April 10, the MWTA had refused to supply water via tankers, saying it wanted to avoid legal complications.
