Ever since Indu
Shahani took over as the sheriff of Mumbai two months ago, she has
taken the job of being a responsible citizen more seriously than ever.
Barely two months into her new role, Shahani has launched two drives
that she believes will support the civic authorities while involving
citizens for the betterment of the city. After the whistle-blowing
campaign, in which her students make a noise against littering, Shahani
tells Ashutosh Shukla the importance of plugging the city’s leaking
water taps. Excerpts:
What is the idea behind the 'Fix
Leaking Taps' campaign?
There is a criminal waste of clean water happening in the city. The
problem is that most residents do not even take note of it, as it has
become part of their lives, and they do not care. The 'Fix Leaking
Taps' campaign will make them conscious about the wastage of water and
motivate them to do something about it.
We are undertaking this campaign with the theme 'Kuch Kariye'. We want
people to come out of their houses and take charge of things they can
do instead of cribbing and blaming the authorities all the time.
Through this campaign, we think we can save a million litres of water
per day.
Who came up with the idea for the
campaign?
The idea is being promoted by me and Eureka Forbes. We came up with the
concept after some people had e-mailed me about the water problems they
face. Also, some of our students had done a survey on Mumbai's water
problems. After the launch of the campaign, we will work closely with
Eureka Forbes and the plumbers’ association.
How soon can you achieve success in
the campaign?
A campaign like this will take time to become popular. But we feel that
maybe in a year’s time we will have good success. We will also have a
helpline that people can call to get help from professional licensed
plumbers, who will attend to complaints through call centres. The
campaign, in an indirect way, will also create employment opportunities
for people.
1,143 million litres of
additional water will be required daily in Mumbai by 2011
3,350 million litres is the
water supply Mumbai currently gets every day
700 million litres of water are
lost daily in Mumbai ti leakages and pilferage
800 million litres a day is the
gap between demand and supply of water in Mumbai
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