City reels under water shortage

There is no respite yet for Punekars,as drinking water continues to be a scarce commodity. Though the PMC has pushed several tankers into service,it is still dependent on private tanker operators,who are now paid a premium and control much of the water supply in the fringe areas.

“There has been good rainfall recently,but the water cut continues. The PMC has pressed more water tankers into service to meet the increasing demand of the citizens,” K C Karkar,PMC officer coordinating the water supply,said. There are 67 tankers run by PMC on daily basis and 12 more have been added from Monday.

“There has been no increase in demand and number of water tankers plying remain the same even though the civic administration have the powers of seeking 80 private tankers on requisition,” he added.

The work on digging borewells for drawing ground water to fulfill the city demands will begin soon and all the four zonal commissioners have been asked to carry out the work,Karkar said. The PMC has also put restrictions on fixed rate for private tankers providing service in the city. “The rates will continue till there is improvement in the water supply system of the PMC,” he said.