- Satellite image of Mumbai, showing urban water reservoirs
When I arrived in Mumbai, the water shortage as a result of poor monsoon rains in 2009 struck me. The availability of drinking water per capita now fell below the mark 100l per person and day, and this situation will most probably worsen in the near future, first because the city is growing fast, and second because monsoon rains are becoming ever more unreliable.
Mumbaikars are very aware of this problem, as water is rationed and it impacts their everyday life. Water is now available only for between one and three hours per day in peoples homes. The government has also announced a one day per week complete water cut for each neighborhood.
The water shortage is also very prevalent in the media: articles in the newspaper appear frequently on this topic, there is a TV commercial saying ’save water, save lives’, and people have received text messages on their cellphones from the city, asking them to conserve water.
ways of water storage in Mumbai
It is my goal to find out what this means for people and really understand the issues associated with it. Documenting the situation will, hopefully, not only trigger a discussion on this blog, but also make this crucial information available for everyone interested or involved in planning efforts in order to facilitate appropriate design.
I am hoping to gain more insight by trying to understand ancient and recent design examples across the country that attempt to cope with water shortage and learn from their successes and problems. I then plan to explore opportunities and challenges of grey water re-use and rainwater harvesting in the particular context and the space constraints of Mumbai, most pragmatically, at a micro scale.
