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Water Mafia is a documentary that focuses on the massive drainage of water and funds from metropolitan cities & their municipalities, into the tankers of criminals, known as the eponymous water mafias
Last Updated: 08.31 PM, Jan 15, 2024
Water Mafia is a new documentary that cannot be missed, especially by the youngsters. Based on the data and statistics provided by journalist Vivek Agrawal, the docufilm was directed by Naman Govil. The film dropped on OTT on January 12, 2024, and got an appreciative reception from viewers for its intricate research, watertight screenplay, and proper cinematography.
Produced by Vice Studios, the docufilm is available to stream on DocuBay. The Water Mafia is a 45-minute docufilm chronicling the flow of water and cash from the reservoirs and water bodies of metropolitan cities, like Delhi and Mumbai, right into the illegal tankers of the water mafia via holes drilled into the government pipes.
What is the basic modus operandi of the water mafia?
The BMC officers, who are in-charge of opening the supply valves in specific areas are then bribed to allow less water than normal to be released, so that the areas suffer from acute water shortage.
This in turn, causes the suffering residents to seek water tanks to fulfil their deficit. The water, that the public usually gets at ₹5 for 1,000 liters from the BMC, is sold by the water mafia at around ₹600 per 1,000 liters. This is how the basic water theft and functioning of the water mafia operations continue, with them stealing between ₹1,800 to ₹3,000 per day from the BMC.
Water Mafia is focused on resolving the myth of water shortage. The shortage experienced by people is artificial and anthropogenic, controlled by the water mafia. With an annual nexus of ₹10,000 crores and 900 million liters of water missing every day, the staggering depth of the water mafia is equally baffling and eye-opening.
What does the trailer reveal about the film?
The docufilm’s trailer rightfully notes that ‘the water crisis is more a governance crisis rather than a supply crisis’ as the it offers a straightforward answer to the main issue that facilitates this black-market activity- those at the administrative levels and in positions of power in the government. It is the corruption of a handful in the government that has caused the system to rot for 70 years, as the trailer of Water Mafia clearly states.
The docufilm offers the insightful perspectives of victims, erstwhile victimizers aka criminals, urban planners, investigative journalists, scholars, economists, and political figures, to create a vivid picture of the actual crisis, the whistleblowers and moles who act as middlemen between those on either side of the law to facilitate a smooth influx of cash.