The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has submitted a revised proposal to hire 213 water tankers for 150 days to wash 677 km of Mumbai roads, while explicitly prohibiting contractors from using drinking water for the dust-control exercise.
The proposal from the BMC’s Solid Waste Management Department covers 377 public roads across the city. It is awaiting approval from the civic body’s Standing Committee, after an earlier proposal was rejected in October over concerns about the use of large quantities of water during a 10% water cut and low-pressure supply in several areas.
Under the revised plan, contractors will be permitted to use only non-potable sources, including treated sewage water, borewell water and well water. They will also be required to disclose the sources from which they procure water. A civic official said contractors would be instructed to comply with the restriction and that the road-washing drive could resume once the Standing Committee approves the proposal.
The proposed tanker fleet will include vehicles with capacities of 2,000, 5,000 and 10,000 litres. The tankers will be deployed daily to wash identified roads during the 150-day contract period. The BMC has not stated in the supplied proposal how much water the full operation would consume.
The civic body introduced regular road washing and water sprinkling to control dust pollution on major roads and heavily used footpaths. The programme was undertaken across all 26 municipal wards, covering roads wider than 60 feet and busy footpaths. The BMC is seeking fresh contracts because the tenure of the earlier contractors has expired.
The road-washing plan forms part of the civic body’s broader dust-control efforts. In October 2023, the BMC issued a circular directing construction sites to implement pollution-control measures, including water sprinkling to suppress dust generated by construction and infrastructure activity. The latest proposal extends the municipal road-cleaning operation while attempting to address concerns over potable water use.
The proposal comes as parts of Maharashtra continue to face drought-like conditions, and after corporators questioned the priority given to road washing when some Mumbai areas were reporting reduced water pressure. The revised conditions shift the responsibility for sourcing water to contractors but require them to identify those sources to the civic body.
The Standing Committee’s decision will determine whether the BMC can restart the operation and deploy the proposed 213 tankers across the identified road network. Until approval is granted, the revised road-washing drive remains pending.
