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Pune: Maharashtra govt approves 12.41 TMC water for city, much lower than civic body’s demand
The PMC administration, as per the direction of the Maharashtra Water Resource Regulatory Authority, has to submit water audit while demanding the city's quota from the dams around it.

Estimating the city population to be more than 55 lakh, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) had sought 20.34 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of water to meet the annual demand but the state water resource department has fixed the quota at 12.41 TMC for 2022-23.
The PMC administration, as per the direction of the Maharashtra Water Resource Regulatory Authority, has to submit water audit while demanding the city’s quota from the dams around it. Most of the city’s water supply comes through a chain of four dams upstream of Mutha river. These are Khadakwasla, Panshet, Varasgaon and Temghar.
The previous census took place in 2011 and it has got delayed now due to the pandemic. However, the population of the city has increased rapidly in the last decade. Besides, the boundaries of the city have been extended. Thus, the PMC administration has gathered information on the population based on Aadhaar registrations from the city and other sources. “It was predicted that the population of the city was 52.08 lakh in 2019 and the two per cent annual growth estimates the population to be 55.27 lakh in 2022. Further, the population is estimated to be 69.41 lakh if the population of 34 newly merged villages is added to that of the old city,” said a civic officer.
If 150 liter per person per day water is considered, the PMC needs 20.34 TMC to meet the demand for 2022-23, he said, adding this includes 35 per cent of water lost due to leakages in the system. The approved water quantity is for July 2022 to June 2023.
The state water resource department has approved 0.48 TMC for various organisations in the city and 1.76 TMC for the 34 newly merged villages. “The PMC has not submitted any support proof for estimated population. So, 12.41 TMC water is sanctioned for the city and higher rates would be charged for additional consumption of water,” it said.
The PMC can draw only 11.5 TMC of water from Khadakwasla dam and the remaining amount should be drawn from Pavna and Bhama Askhed dam. The civic body is presently drawing around 20.45 TMC from Khadakwasla dam, which is 9 TMC more than approved water quota for the city.
In its communication to PMC, the state water resource department clarified that the civic body can draw only allocated quantity of water in the year and will have to pay higher charges for the additional water drawn in the period.
The department said the PMC needed to use water judiciously as per the set norms to avoid additional consumption leading to crisis during summer and shortage for irrigation purpose. The state water resource department also urged the PMC to hand over its water pumping station near Khadakwasla dam to water resource department as per the decision of state government.
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