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Tejas Navale

Pune: As the summer is proceeding, the water storage problem is becoming acute day-by-day in Pune city.  There have been complaints about water unavailability from the residents of the main part of the city limits, along with the newly included villages of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).

Amidst all this chaos of water unavailability, a delegation of about 27 societies in the Undri and Pisoli areas surrounded the head official of the water supply department of the municipal corporation on Monday and warned them against paying the water bill if the water supply does not get regularised in their area.

The water scarcity problem is severe in Pune city, as the municipal corporation's ambitious plan for equal water supply to the city has not materialised yet. To further add woes to it, the state government had earlier decided to extend the boundaries of the municipality and merge 34 villages adjacent to the boundaries with the Pune Municipal Corporation between 2017 and 2021.

This has further increased the load on the water supply of the municipality. This problem has become so problematic, as because of it, some areas are not getting drinking water either.

Against this background, representatives of 27 societies from Undri, Pisoli, and Kondhwa areas surrounded the head of the water supply department of the municipal corporation on Monday under the leadership of MNS leader Rajendra alias Babu Vagaskar and city president Sainath Babar, presenting their grievances.

People complained that under the equal water supply scheme, three tanks have been constructed in the Mahammadwadi and NIBM Road areas; however, their connection with water pipes remains suspended to date. Builders are selling flats in these areas, promising water supply through these newly constructed tanks. However, people only realised that they had been cheated once they started living in these houses.

By putting their grievances in front of the officials, residents also warned them of serious agitation if their demands were not met and if a proper solution was not taken at the earliest possible time regarding water supply.

People further complained that as the water supply system here has not been developed, water societies have been charging exorbitant maintenance fees from them, ranging from 3,000 to as high as 10,000 rupees. "We would have collectively spent hundreds of crores of rupees on this issue till date," said one of the residents frustratingly.

While responding to citizens' issues, Nandkishor Jagtap, the Head of Water Supply Department of Pune Municipal Corporation, informed that the work of connecting a water channel at 'NIBM' is in progress. There were some technical issues with the connection of this water channel. After removing these obstacles, the work will be completed, and the test will be conducted in the next one to two days. He further assured people that after the successful testing of trials, the water problems of these societies would be solved to some extent.