This is an archive article published on August 27, 2023
Maharashtra govt keen to restart stalled Pavana pipeline project despite rise in cost
The Pavana pipeline project involves laying a direct 36-km closed pipeline from the Pavana dam in Maval taluka to Ravet in Pimpri-Chinchwad. 'The project cost has gone up from Rs 400 crore to Rs 1,000 crore after the work was stalled in 2011.
When the Pavana pipeline project stopped in 2011, the contractor had laid a 4 km pipeline. (File photo by Rajesh Stephen)
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Maharashtra govt keen to restart stalled Pavana pipeline project despite rise in cost
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With the Maharashtra government showing its readiness to implement the Pavana pipeline project that was stalled in 2011, officials of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation on Sunday said the project cost has more than doubled in the last 12 years.
”The project, when planned in 2008, had estimated the cost to be around Rs 400 crore. In the last 13-14 years, the cost of inputs like steel and iron have increased three times. Besides, the digging work machinery, the manpower and other requirements will collectively shoot up the project cost to around Rs 1,000 crore,” PCMC joint city engineer Shrikant Savane told The Indian Express.
The Pavana pipeline project involves laying a direct 36-km closed pipeline from the Pavana dam in Maval taluka to Ravet in Pimpri-Chinchwad. ”There will be two parallel pipelines laid. Each of them will be 18 mm in diameter,” Savane said.
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After three farmers were killed in police firing during a protest against the project in 2011, then chief minister Prithviraj Chavan put a stay on the project.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, while visiting Pimpri-Chinchwad Thursday, indicated that the project would be implemented. When The Indian Express sought to know whether the state government would drop the project, Pawar said, ”No…The project has not been implemented because of legal hassles and the stay put by the then chief minister. I will soon discuss the issue with Chief Minister Ekanth Shinde.”
Pawar also expressed concern over future water availability for the industrial city. ”As the population rises, we must look for new water sources. We will have to get drinking water from the Tata dam. Also, we will have to supply treated sewage water to Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation and get some of its share of drinking water for us,” he said.
Municipal Commissioner Shekhar Singh said efforts are being made on the political front to restart the project after taking all stakeholders into confidence. ”Similarly, we are also trying to restart the project from the administrative side. We are in touch with stakeholders and hope the project will start soon,” he said.
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Singh said the Pavana pipeline project will help residents of Pimpri-Chinchwad get clean water. “Currently, our drinking water supply flows from the Pavana dam to Pimpri-Chinchwad. All kinds of pollutants merge with the water during a 40 km run. But once we get water through the closed pipeline, pollutants will have no space, and we will have to spend little on water filtration. Healthwise, residents of Pimpri-Chinchwad will gain as they get clean water,” he said.
Savane said after the PCMC lays the pipeline, the irrigation department will increase the water supply by 100 million litres per day (MLD). “Currently, for releasing an everyday quota of 510 MLD, they have to release additional water so that it reaches Pimpri-Chinchwad. Once the direct pipeline is laid, the irrigation department will not be required to release additional water. As a result, we will get an additional water supply of 100 MLD,” he said.
When the Pavana pipeline project stopped in 2011, the contractor had laid a 4 km pipeline. “The contractor is ready to carry forward the project. But it will all depend on whether the state government wants re-tendering for the project or the same contractor to continue,” Savane said.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Pimpri-Chinchwad chief Ajit Gavahane said the deputy chief minister, during a meeting with the civic administration on Thursday, emphasised getting additional water. ”The Deputy CM told the administration that we need to plan for the future so that the city does not suffer on the water front. He was keen on getting the existing projects completed. And asked the administration to get in touch with all stakeholders and take them into confidence so that the Pavana pipeline project could be restarted,” he said.
Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.
Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives.
Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees.
During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa.
Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died.
Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More
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