Journalism of Courage
Residents of Pimpri-Chinchwad will not have to worry about water shortage during Diwali as the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) on Monday said there will be no water cuts for now, as there was enough water in Pavana dam. “We are not resorting to water cuts as there is enough water in Pavana dam,” said Municipal Commissioner Shravan Hardikar. His statement will bring relief to the residents of Pimpri-Chinchwad, who have been fearing water cuts after the Pune Municipal Corporation decided to implement them in Pune last week. The civic chief, however, said they may have to introduce water cuts in the future if the water level in the dam falls. “The Irrigation Department has told us that after Diwali we may have to reduce our water supply,” he said.
“Rainfall has been deficient in the last two months. There was not much rain during the retreating phase of the monsoon, so the water level in the reservoir went down,” he added.
Water shortage, however, has been a major issue for residents of the industrial city since September, when the monsoon was in its withdrawal phase. Residents of high-rise buildings in Pimple Saudagar, Pimple Gurav, Wakad, Indrayani Nagar and Rahatni have not been receiving their daily quota of water and many residential societies have turned to water tankers to meet their daily demand.
Last week, at a General Body meeting, corporators slammed the PCMC administration over the shortage. Corporators from the NCP, Shiv Sena and MNS also held protests at the civic body, after which Hardika said steps will be taken to tackle the water crisis. These steps would include plugging all pipeline leaks and tracking illegal water connections.
Opposition leader Datta Sane, who belongs to the NCP, said he and other corporators were surprised by the “lack of response” from the civic chief and his team.
“Corporators from across Pimpri-Chinchwad spoke about the water shortage… they were angry and agitated. But what was the response of the civic administration? It adjourned the meeting without giving any reply,” Sane said. The NCP leader alleged that the PCMC administration had no concrete plans to deal with the shortage. “Officials of the Water Department have been saying that leaks were one of the major causes for the shortage… but what is the administration doing to stop the leaks? There is silence on that count,” he said.
Corporator Nana Kate of Pimple Saudagar said all the 175 residential societies in his area had been hit by the water shortage. “The highrise buildings are facing a major water shortage. People have now devised a way to use municipality water for drinking purposes and they use water from the tankers for other household work,” he said.
