As reported in TOI by V Narayan, on 20 December 2009
The police on Friday raided a house at Mandala in Mankhurd and arrested the leader of a Congress women’s wing, who is also an Ekta Mahila Mandala member, for allegedly storing and selling water illegally.
Acting on a tip-off, the police raided Takimmunnisa Khan’s house and seized water stored in 70 drums (each of 35 l). An electric pump was also seized that Khan had connected to the main BMC line to draw water illegally. She has been selling 20 l of water for Rs 5, while a 35-l can, popularly called “Puga”, is sold for Rs 15 to Rs 20,” the police said.
An officer from Mankhurd police station said Khan ran this “buisness” for the past several years. “Earlier, she managed to escape the raids on several occasions. Many a times the mafias escape as they are often hand in glove with the BMC officials,” the officer said. Khan has been booked under sections 379 (theft) and 430 (wrongfully diverting water) of the IPC and is also charged of damaging public property.
The squad was formed on November 18 to nab water thieves after the zonal DCP learnt that despite the continous raids in Shivaji Nagar, Mankhurd, Deonar and Govandi over the past three weeks and registering 19 FIRs, water pilferage continued. In fact, more than 400 pipes were disconnected and over 300 electric motor pumps seized in that period.
“According to rough BMC estimates, around 700 million l of water is lost in a day to pilferage, illegal connections or leaks. After an FIR is filed, if a person (he/she) is still found to have an illegal connection and stealing water, then stern actions will be taken against he/she,” Zone-VI DCP Dilip Sawant told TOI on Saturday.
