Mumbai water tanker strike called off after CM Fadnavis intervenes, operators assured notices will be revoked | Mumbai News

The MWTA, the apex body of water tanker suppliers in Mumbai, supplies 2,000 million litres of water daily to residential and commercial establishments across the city. It has a registered fleet of over 2,000 tankers, each with a capacity of 10,000 litres.

The strike had begun Monday after the state government’s district Tehsildar office issued notices to owners and operators of ring-wells and borewells asking them to stop supplying water to tankers and obtain a fresh licence from the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA). Under CGWA guidelines, a licence is issued to a well-owner only if the well sits on a land parcel of at least 200 square metres, and only one tanker can fill water from a single well.

The association opposed the notices, arguing that the procurement of meters is expensive in Mumbai as they are not manufactured in Maharashtra and have to be sourced from outside the state.

With the strike in its second day, MWTA representatives met Fadnavis on Tuesday afternoon. Following the meeting, the collectors directed the association not to reply to the notices. The collector’s office is also set to write to the BMC to take cognisance of the discussion and draft guidelines around the CGWA norms.

The strike hit residents hard. Dipti Thakur Desai, secretary of Highland Tower in Kandivali’s Akurli area, said building residents including senior citizens had been struggling since Monday. “While the strike was announced from June 8, we did not receive adequate supply from BMC on June 7. Due to the lack of BMC supply as well as the strike, we were left tackling a massive crisis on a war-footing on Monday. Our residents encompass senior citizens and bedridden patients who faced the worst impact. On Tuesday, we received some BMC water which helped but the situation remains critical,” she said.

Manoj Ganguli, a resident of Rainforest Kanakia in Marol, said his society extended water cut timings on Tuesday. “We are heavily reliant on water tankers and had already imposed a water cut on Monday. On Tuesday, we increased the timings to 12 pm to 6 pm and 11 pm to 5 am. If the strike had continued, our problems would only have worsened,” he said. In commercial clusters like Marol Plaza, offices had implemented half-days as early as Monday.

The strike coincided with an ongoing 10 per cent water cut across Mumbai, deepening an already acute water crisis in the city. This is the MWTA’s third strike in four years. Earlier in 2025, the association had called a strike after the BMC sent letters to well owners asking them to provide an NOC complying with the latest CGWA norms.