00:00Well, in today's detailed review, we are going to talk about a geographical discovery which is really
00:05It means it's surprising
00:07Everyone knows that Mumbai is one of the biggest and brightest cities in the world.
00:11But the story of how this city gets water is very strange.
00:15We will see who needs water at a particular place.
00:18But in the same place, at the same place, the severe scarcity of water has been deliberately created.
00:23Yes, let's start deliberately.
00:26Now, consider this stark reality for a moment.
00:30Shapur is an area barely 100 kilometers away from Mumbai.
00:33There is an 18 year old girl named Shalu.
00:35He says that my whole life is passing like this.
00:39And what is she pointing to?
00:41He is completely at the mercy of water tankers
00:44The sun is moving and women, elders, children
00:48Everyone is forced to walk several kilometers and collect water from wells.
00:51And this isn't just a season thing.
00:53Who knows how many generations like Shalu have lived their entire lives.
00:57Just like this, I've been waiting for water.
00:59So the question arises
01:18How is it possible that there is no access to water?
01:20Let's go deeper into it
01:21So let us first understand this basic principle.
01:25So what is this water problem after all?
01:28Just look at this map
01:30These red dots that you see, right?
01:33These are the settlements and villages
01:34Which is surrounded by clean water dams on all sides.
01:38But this is the strangest thing
01:41This is the same water that bypasses these villages completely.
01:44It flows directly through large pipes to irrigate the city of Mumbai.
01:48These settlements are often referred to as mahas tajavazat in government records and are on the site.
01:53And thus these people remain completely cut off from the water of their own area.
01:57Now let's step back and look at the bigger picture and talk about Mumbai's ever-increasing thirst.
02:03of
02:03Can you guess how much water Mumbai demands every day?
02:074000 million litres, yes 4000 MLD, this is not a small violence, this is a gigantic disaster.
02:16And the surprising thing is that despite continuously obtaining so much water
02:21The city's thirst never seems to be quenched and it always needs some new dam.
02:27remains in search of
02:28Now, the really surprising thing is this.
02:32On one hand, the city is dying for water.
02:35But on the other hand, due to poor condition and old infrastructure, about 30 percent of the water is being wasted.
02:41Yes, 30 percent
02:43This water either flows through old pipes
02:46Or it gets stolen along the way.
02:48That means, what a big injustice this is.
02:50that the city is building new dams
02:52But the water that is available
02:54One third of it is being affected by the defects of the heart.
02:57And of course, this never-ending demand
03:01There is also a heavy price to pay
03:03And this price is borne by both humans and the environment.
03:07For example, the new Kargai Dam that is going to be built now
03:11That will provide another 440 million litres of water.
03:14But what will it cost?
03:17619 Khandans will be evicted from their homes
03:19And more than 210,000,000 trees will be cut down
03:22This is the price being paid for this new dam.
03:25To understand this Adam Masawat
03:28Check out this list of Mehkik Sachin Wale
03:31The calculation is quite simple
03:33Greater Mumbai is on one side.
03:34Where fixed water is used daily
03:37is 240 liters
03:38And on the other hand, those living very close to those dams
03:42For cowherds, this limit has been fixed at only 70 litres.
03:45You are seeing the difference
03:46These numbers tell us clearly
03:48that between urban and rural life
03:51How big and deep is the tzad?
03:53So how did all this happen?
03:54Let's go to its history
03:56And let us see the true nature of this Adam
03:59How the engineering was done
04:00Let's turn the wheels of time back a little bit
04:03Check out this historical map from 1948.
04:06At this time there was an engineer in the Municipal Corporation
04:08Anvi Modak
04:09He mixed this iron of copper and Vitarna
04:12Proposed the creation of a new water district or Abhi district
04:16Now look, this was no mistake or fault.
04:18Rather, it was a very well thought out organization and a caste plan.
04:22A design whose effects would last for decades
04:25Actually, at this time Mumbai had two options to quench its thirst.
04:30The first option was the Tata Hydro Project in Lonavala.
04:33But there was an issue
04:35The local farmers had strong legal claims to the water.
04:40The second option was the forests of Tansa and Vetarna.
04:43The nobility who lived here
04:45They did not have any valid documents or solid legal rights to their lands.
04:49So what did the city do?
04:50Of course he chose the easy way out and opted for Tansa Vetarna.
04:54Because the poor people here were not capable of fighting legal battles.
04:58To understand this whole game, it is very important to know a legal term.
05:03This is called riparian rights, i.e. rights of the river banks.
05:08The simple meaning of this principle is that the river or canal passing through your land
05:13You have a right to its water.
05:15But as we have discussed, the tribes of Tansa Vitrana do have proper land ownership documents.
05:22were not
05:22So it became very easy for the city administration to take control of their water.
05:27There was no obstruction
05:28Now let's see how all this progressed.
05:32It all started in 1892 when the first Tansa Dam was built.
05:36Then between 1945 and 1954, that entire water district was created.
05:41which we also talked about
05:42This was followed by another attack in the 1970s.
05:45This entire area has been declared a wildlife sanctuary.
05:48That is, it was declared an area for the protection of wild life.
05:51Due to which the remaining rights of the local people were also taken away.
05:54And then this was the result of this continuous exploitation for a century.
05:58That in the decade of 2000, there started a severe struggle for water.
06:02Now we come back to the present day.
06:04And let us see what situation the matter is facing at this time.
06:08Take a close look at this map
06:10This is the legal limit of Mumbai Hydrometric Area.
06:13And these head bungees are designed in such a way
06:16that the needs of the city should be met at all costs
06:18Yes, in any case, first preference will be given.
06:21This is what it means simply and clearly
06:23Whenever it comes to water distribution
06:25So, near whose house that water is flowing
06:28This means that the needs of the local people will be kept at the very end.
06:32They have a royal status on their own land.
06:35Well, it's not that nothing was ever tried.
06:39There was an attempt in 1995
06:41The government thought that the powers should be decentralized a bit.
06:45He built large water tanks for 18 local villages.
06:49Who were to get water from the dam in Mumbai itself
06:52The idea was that the village councils or panchayats would manage this entire system themselves.
06:58It sounds very nice doesn't it?
07:00But the important question is why did this whole plan fail so badly?
07:06There were three major reasons for this.
07:08Firstly, the cowherds did not have the technical training to operate such a large and complex system.
07:14Secondly, the water bill or tariff imposed by Mumbai was so high that people could not afford it.
07:21could have
07:21And the third and biggest obstacle is the Forest Department
07:25They imposed restrictions on even minor repairs to broken water pipes by using wildlife laws.
07:32Gave
07:33That is, he was thrown into the water with his hands and feet tied.
07:35So all this tension is actually the result of the collision of two completely different laws.
07:40On one side is the BMC Act of 1888.
07:43This Act gives so much power to the municipality of Mumbai
07:46That they can lay their pipes anywhere, be it a forest or a village.
07:49and can carry water
07:51and on the other side
07:52On the other hand, there are those local villagers
07:54Which has been mentioned in such strict laws of wild life and protection of forests.
07:59that they can't even repair drinking water pipes
08:02Two different mayors in the same area
08:05Now look at this flow chart.
08:07This exposes the complexity of this entire governance system.
08:10You can see how hazy and confusing this web is.
08:14There are so many fragrances
08:16But there is no one to answer the local people.
08:19No coordination
08:21There is no reconciliation
08:22And who is getting harmed by all this?
08:24Those rural dwellers
08:25which in this cycle view of bureaucracy
08:28are badly stuck
08:29So friends, after knowing all these facts and history
08:33Now we are in a very serious
08:35And standing at the question, pecking
08:37When a man so big and shining brightly
08:40The metropolitan city's growth
08:43be sad about this
08:44that the people living in his own wards remain thirsty
08:47Then try these natural methods
08:49Who is the real owner of these rivers and forests?
08:51It is something to think about
08:52This is the question that gives us pause.
08:54It makes one think
08:56that these expanding cities
08:57What is the cost that we don't see?
09:00And who is paying that?
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