Only 76 of 508 wells recorded in Mira-Bhayandar survive, 432 cannot be traced

Traditional water sources in Mira-Bhayandar are on the verge of disappearing because of unchecked construction in the name of development and growing urbanisation. According to the latest figures of the municipal corporation, only 76 wells are now left in the city. The official records of the municipal council once listed 508 wells.

That means 432 wells cannot be traced. The serious question now being asked is where these natural water sources have gone.

Before Mira-Bhayandar became a city, well water was the main support for drinking, household use and farming and gardening in villages such as Bhayandar, Goddev, Navghar, Khari, Ghodbunder, Mire, Kashi, Varsave, Murdha, Rai, Morva and Dongri. Because the area adjoins Mumbai, urbanisation was rapid, and the municipal council later became a municipal corporation. In this concrete jungle, however, these natural reservoirs of water continued to be ignored.

In response to an application under the Right to Information Act, the town planning department provided the old development plan. According to it, the city had 508 wells on record, 115 public and 393 private. The municipal corporation's current records show only 76 wells, 54 public and 22 private.

Comparing the two official sets of figures, 61 wells meant for public use and 371 private wells, 432 in all, are missing both on paper and on the ground.

Wells contribute significantly to maintaining groundwater levels. On the one hand, the municipal corporation sets aside crores of rupees every year to ease water shortage and to look after the remaining wells. On the other, the wells themselves are vanishing, which has exposed the administration's planning.

With land prices soaring and builders pursuing their own interests, there is suspicion that these wells were filled in and high-rises built over them, or that the administration deliberately removed the records.

The water shortage in the city is deepening by the day. Environmentalists and citizens are demanding that the administration verify the old record of 508 wells on the spot, trace the missing wells and take strict legal action against those who filled them in.