Maharashtra govt assures of action against developers failing to provide drinking water in Pune

BJP legislators Bhimrao Tapkir and Mahesh Landge said, “The PMC and PCMC gives permission for building construction to developers after getting assurance in affidavit that they will manage the water needs of the property owners till the civic body is able to provide water for it. However, the developers in the sale deed of property sold to its customers mention that they will have to bear the expense for the water supply. Thus, the residents of housing societies end up spending lakhs of rupees to get water through tankers which is unfair to them.”

“We will make the civic bodies give permission for new construction only if they get the developer to mention the alternative source of water to meet the needs of occupants of the building. The state government will not accept the wrongful practice of developers including expense of water from the purchaser in the sale deed. The RERA has the powers to take action against such developers and instructions will be given to it in this regard,” Fadnavis said adding the municipal corporations will be instructed to provide water tanker service free of cost for societies that do not get water from the civic body.

He also informed that the state government has done the necessary study to draw 5 TMC (Thousand Million Cubic Feet) water for Pune from Mulshi dam and is finding legal solutions to avoid any hurdles in the future as the dam water is allocated for power generation.

Legislators Ravindra Dhangekar, Chetan Tupe, Sunil Tingre, Madhuri Misal from Pune said that there was inequitable distribution of water to citizens in part of the city with some getting supply for ten hours while others only on alternate days.

BJP legislator Siddharth Shirole urged the state government to revisit the rainwater harvesting policy and ensure its strict implementation to mitigate the water shortage in the city.