NAVI MUMBAI: For the last several months,
JNPT — the country’s biggest
container cargo port — has for the first time in over two decades stopped supplying drinking
water to vessels berthing at its several terminals.
“We are are facing an unprecedented crisis, first time probably in 25 years or so, and have asked container vessels to pick up water from the nearest port of call as we have put on hold supplying water.
We face a 50% water cut and there is not enough supply due to low pressure of water,”said chief manager, port, planning and development, Ashok Lokhande.
Private water barges, which lift water from Mazgaon, supply some 50,000 litres of water every two or three days. Water is supplied with the help of BMC and BPT, said Lokhande.
Around 161 vessels berth every month. The vessels have on an average storage tanks of 5lakh litres to 6lakh litres.
The water crisis started last October when a pipeline of the main water supplier, MJP, burst. It got worse as a tank took a hit when the ceiling collapsed. The crisis, said Lokhande, worsened in the last two or three months due to a 50% cut in supply and inadequate pressure.