We the citizens of financial capital
of Mumbai are fortunate to have a Municipal Corporation, which is supposed to
be one of the most modern or probably the only advanced Municipal Corporation
of the country.
Previously Plumbing Licenses were
given to the Sanitary Engineer doing courses from any approved institute in
British Commonwealth, having two years field experience and passing the written
and practical examinations on water supply and drainage conducted by Bombay Municipal
Corporation, as it was called in those days. These exams were seriously
conducted and some of the candidates who were lacking behind were also failed
in the exams.
These exams were based on the
knowledge acquired from the field experience and hands-on working based on the
Water and drainage Bye-laws. Now the licenses are issued to the Civil and Mechanical
engineers regardless of their knowledge in the field. No assessment of their
knowledge is done (considering they are adequately knowledgeable in Plumbing).
Also of interest is the fact to understand the amount of Plumbing knowledge
imparted in engineering institutes.
The very first sentence of Water-
Bye-Laws reads as “Bye Laws framed under section 461(a) and (b) of the
Municipal act for regulating all matters and things connected with the supply
and use of water”. Next title is “Approved
by the Corporation under Resolution conformed by the Government of Bombay under
their notification No. 3069 of 27th January 1925”
Water Charges rules are being revised
on regular basis because it generates the revenue for MCGM but Bye-Laws are not
revised/amended till this date as per my knowledge. The latest printed version
of the Bye-Laws is same as the original ones. Most of often they are out of
stock with the PRO department of Corporation.
I would like to mention few
sentences of Bye-Laws here and schedule of Bye-Laws for the knowledge of
readers.
Item No. 12. “All consumer pipes and
fittings shall be of lead, galvanised
iron, cast iron, brass or copper and shall conform in the every respect to the
particulars prescribed and specifications given in Schedule “B” attached to
these bye-laws
Now the question is has Corporation
banned use of lead pipes officially or still one can use lead pipes and
fittings as per the bye-laws?
Though Corporation also says that
ISI marked pipes and fittings supersedes BMC bye-laws. Till recent past the
manufacturers had to struggle to get their ISI marked Pipes and fittings
approved from the corporation itself. Now appreciably the practice has been
curtailed and a circular issued after request.
Specifications of the faucets/taps
given in the bye-laws are also back dated as the latest faucets available and
being fixed in new as well as old buildings are aesthetically looking good and
some of them are having longer life and they save water if specified.
I also would like to share an
experience I had whilst getting concealed fittings certified for one of my
projects about five years back, which was required as per bye-laws. Because all
the pipes and fittings which are to be buried are required to be shown and got
certified before concealing, I had used CPVC pipes of BMC approved make but to
my surprise the engineer in charge of certification was unaware of CPVC pipes,
its application and BMC approval. I had to request the manufacturer to furnish
me the details and had to submit it to the concerned engineer for the records.
This hardship would have been avoided if the bye-laws are updated from time to
time and validity of the Bye-Laws is fixed. Many of my fellow licensed plumbers
must have faced problems due to non-availability of circulars and had to
succumb to the interpretation of the engineer in charge of approving of
certifying the project.
Use of bore-well water, population criteria
for water tanks and connection also are not updated and are still being
enforced by circulars.
Do circulars bear any legal standing
as the Bye-Laws have? What should be the validity of such a circular in the
absence of such revisions in the Bye-Laws?
Now is the time for us to rise and
take up the matter with the Hydraulic Engineer’s department to revise Water
Bye-laws.
Same is the scenario of Drainage
bye-laws. They do not cover new generation materials which are better in many
respects than the conventional material. Reclaiming of Sewage needs to be taken
care in the drainage bye-laws too.
It also does not cover the special
care to be taken to select material for high-rise buildings.
Let’s join hands with the MCGM to
improvise this field of Plumbing, which not only is our source of living but
also has implications on the lives of the masses.
