Large parts of Mumbai’s Chembur region will experience a prolonged disruption in water supply over February 12 and 13 as civic authorities undertake a critical upgrade of the city’s water distribution infrastructure. The planned shutdown, spanning up to 30 hours in some neighbourhoods, reflects the ongoing effort to strengthen supply reliability in eastern Mumbai, even as it temporarily inconveniences thousands of households and commercial establishments.
The interruption will affect areas across the M-East and M-West wards, covering both Chembur East and Chembur West. Officials overseeing the project said the shutdown is necessary to facilitate the installation of a high-capacity control gate and new inlet connections at a key reservoir node supplying the region. The work is scheduled to begin in the early hours of February 12 and conclude by the morning of February 13. According to civic engineers, the intervention is part of a broader plan to modernise Mumbai’s ageing water network, much of which operates under high pressure and serves rapidly densifying neighbourhoods. Once completed, the new system is expected to improve flow regulation, reduce leakage risks, and allow better distribution management during peak demand and emergency situations.
Residential colonies, industrial pockets, and mixed-use neighbourhoods in Chembur—including refinery townships, public housing clusters, and older urban villages—will see either a complete suspension or severely reduced water supply during the repair window. Authorities have advised residents and institutions to store adequate water in advance and to use supplies judiciously until normal services resume. Urban infrastructure experts note that while such shutdowns are disruptive, they are increasingly unavoidable as Mumbai attempts to retrofit essential services within a constrained and heavily built-up environment. “Upgrading underground utilities in a dense city requires carefully sequenced shutdowns,” said a water management specialist. “The alternative is higher risk of unplanned failures, which often cause longer and more chaotic disruptions.”
As a precaution, health and civic officials have also advised residents to boil or filter drinking water for several days after supply restoration. This measure is commonly recommended following major pipeline interventions to guard against potential contamination caused by pressure fluctuations and sediment movement within the network. Separately, parts of Mumbai’s western suburbs are also set to experience a shorter water disruption earlier in the week due to targeted repair work on a major inlet pipeline serving elevated neighbourhoods. In those areas, some localities will face a complete shutdown while others may receive water at reduced pressure, depending on elevation and network configuration.
Taken together, the planned works highlight the growing strain on Mumbai’s water infrastructure as population density, climate variability, and consumption patterns continue to evolve. While short-term inconvenience is inevitable, civic planners argue that such upgrades are essential to building a more resilient, equitable, and efficient urban water system—one capable of supporting future growth without compromising public health or environmental sustainability.
Chembur Residents To Face Water Interruption On February 12 13
