State govt demands PMC clears Rs 952 crore in dues to avoid water cuts

The PMC draws water from the Khadakwasla dam to meet its demand of domestic water supply and pays the charges to the state water resource department. The state water resource department has also demanded Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) to clear Rs 122 crore in dues.

As per the state government decision, the PMC is allowed to draw 11.60 TMC of water annually from the Khadakwasla dam but the state water resource department claims that the civic body draws more water than the allocation. In 2024-25, the PMC lifted 20.44 TMC water which is 8.84 TMC more water drawn in the year by the civic body, said state water resource department.

The Maharashtra Water Regulatory Authority (MWRA) has fixed rates for the water drawn from the dams. It has been fixed that the 1.5 times rate should be applied to water drawn between 100 to 125 percent of allocated quota and three times the rate for water drawn is more than 125 percent of the allocated quota.

However, the PMC has been challenging the claim that additional water is drawn by the civic body. It also alleges that the allocated quota is not adequate as per the population of the city.

The state water resource department said that the additional water drawn by PMC is creating problems for them to supply water for irrigation purposes. “The PMC has exhausted its water quota by drawing the allocated water for the year so its supply can be discontinued anytime now,” warned Deshmukh.

PMC water supply department officer Nandkishore Jagtap said that the PMC has written to the state water resource department that the civic body does not accept the claim that PMC draws additional water. “The PMC commissioner has already directed to challenge the claim of the state water resource department on the allocated quota considering the floating population of the city,” he said.