Around 265 talukas in Maharashtra, nearly 74 per cent of the state, were declared drought-hit in early September after one of the driest monsoons in years.
The state has directed local bodies to implement a 10 per cent water cut from October 16 and prepare dam-wise and usage-wise water plans until August 31, 2027.
Maharashtra has policies to promote treated wastewater reuse, but urban local bodies still face gaps in funding, treatment capacity, implementation guidance and institutional accountability.
Only 57 per cent of the state’s sewage is treated and just 17 per cent of wastewater is reused, even as untreated flows continue to pollute rivers, lakes and drains.
In early September this year, around 265 talukas in Maharashtra — almost 74 per cent of the state — were declared drought-hit after one of the driest monsoons in years.
This week, Maharashtra’s water resources minister directed all local bodies, both urban and rural, to implement a 10 per cent water cut from October 16, 2026. The decision came amid concerns over limited water reserves, directly linked to reduced rainfall.
The water resources department has also announced dam-wise and usage-wise planning of water to manage any possible crisis until August 31, 2027. Emphasis has been placed on reusing treated wastewater for gardening, construction and industrial activities.
Unplanned urbanisation and industrialisation have placed severe pressure on Maharashtra’s water resources. The fringes of cities such as Pune and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, for instance, depend heavily on borewells and private tankers in the absence of piped water supply. This has increased pressure on hard-rock aquifers.
A steep decline in groundwater levels has also been observed in industrial areas such as the Thane-Belapur corridor, Chakan and Pimpri-Chinchwad fringes. Informal settlements in Mumbai, Solapur and Aurangabad also depend on hand pumps and borewells.
This does not only point to the over-extraction of groundwater. It also means that large quantities of wastewater remain unaccounted for. Much of this wastewater is not treated by cities and instead flows untreated into nearby drains, waterbodies and rivers.
Apart from central policies and regulations, Maharashtra has introduced several state-specific measures to improve water management. These include the Maharashtra State Water Policy, 2019; the Maharashtra Groundwater (Development and Management) Act, 2009; regulations for thermal power plants; and, most importantly, the Safe Reuse and Management of Treated Wastewater Policy, 2025.
More recently, in October 2025, the Maharashtra cabinet approved a policy to promote a circular water economy. The policy mandates the reuse of sewage and wastewater across 424 urban local bodies.
Under the policy, treated wastewater is to be used by thermal power plants, industries, for urban non-potable uses and for irrigation. A budget of Rs 5 billion was approved by the Urban Development Department, with a focus on large water users.
So where does the gap lie? Why is Maharashtra still raising concerns about a water crisis despite having policies and plans in place?
The Maharashtra State Water Policy, 2019, mandates a minimum reuse of 30 per cent in urban local bodies. But urban local bodies need clearer guidelines on how this is to be implemented. Translating policy into practice remains difficult.
The absence of a secure funding source can also create bottlenecks in the implementation, operation and maintenance of sewage treatment plants. This can lead to inadequate treatment of wastewater, affecting rivers and waterbodies in and around urban local bodies.
Overlapping roles and responsibilities across jurisdictional and regulatory agencies may also affect wastewater treatment. A 2024 report by the Center for Water and Sanitation at CEPT University noted that both the Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority and the State Pollution Control Board have roles in relation to wastewater treatment quality and sanitation. Such overlaps may delay action against faulty treatment systems and polluting agencies.
Cut the length of pipelines
Large cities are increasingly looking to distant sources for water supply. Mumbai, for example, draws water from sources up to 180 km away.
Longer pipelines mean higher leakage and distribution losses. Research studies point to leakage losses in Maharashtra’s large urban centres ranging between 30 and 40 per cent. Mumbai accounts for 34 per cent non-revenue water due to physical leakage, distribution losses and theft.
Long pipelines to distant sources increase the chances of such losses. Some pipelines in Mumbai are over 100 years old. Cities need to revive wetlands and rivers, plan aquifer recharge and focus on local water sources.
Focus on informal settlements and peri-urban areas
Informal settlements and peri-urban areas cover significant parts of Maharashtra’s large cities. In Mumbai, for example, slums cover 24 per cent of the city’s area and house around half its population, according to a 2026 report by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority.
Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)’s 2015 publication Excreta Matters highlighted inequity in Mumbai’s water supply. Such inequity creates two kinds of users: the water-rich, who use too much, and the water-poor, who depend on standposts, borewells and hand pumps because they lack secure water supply.
Private tanker supply has expanded to meet water demand in these areas. A 2022 study by the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, Hyderabad, found that even though some Mumbai slums have piped water supply, most residents complain about poor water quality and inadequate hours of supply.
This shows that the city cannot ensure good-quality and sufficient water supply to every part of the city. It also indicates that cities may not have an accurate estimate of how much wastewater is generated. Water utilities often calculate wastewater on the basis of a thumb rule — 80 per cent of water supplied — but this misses water drawn from borewells, tankers and other informal sources.
Another part of this story is septage management. The peri-urban fringes of Pune, under the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority, depend on septic tanks. There have been reports of desludging tankers emptying raw sewage from these septic tanks into the Mula, Mutha and Pawana rivers.
There have also been media reports of illegal sludge dumping on the banks of the Nandini river in Nashik. Polluted waterbodies and rivers reduce the amount of usable water available to cities.
Strengthen regulation for reuse
Maharashtra relies on a multi-tiered institutional framework for wastewater reuse, including oversight committees, a specialised regulatory body and dedicated government cells.
Clearer mandates, institutional roles and responsibilities can strengthen water-management strategies. Cities should also focus on bulk wastewater generators, such as large residential complexes and institutional areas. These sites can reuse treated wastewater on-site for flushing and gardening, and can also develop models to sell treated wastewater to nearby areas to reduce freshwater use.
An amicus note to the National Green Tribunal on Maharashtra’s compliance, dated April 2026, flagged a large gap between sewage generation and treatment. Around 9,073 million litres per day of wastewater is generated in the state, but only 57 per cent is treated.
The note said this results in large quantities of wastewater flowing into nearby waterbodies and rivers. Moreover, groundwater use, which also generates significant wastewater, is often not accounted for.
Reuse cannot happen at scale when much of the sewage never reaches a working treatment plant. CSE’s 2024 publication Waste to Worth notes that only 17 per cent of wastewater is reused in the state.
There are examples of treated wastewater reuse in Maharashtra, but scaling them up is now essential.