Warje’s water woes go on and on

PUNE, Jan 28: As if coping with raw untreated water pumped from the river was not enough, Warje-Malwadi residents have yet another headac...

PUNE, Jan 28: As if coping with raw untreated water pumped from the river was not enough, Warje-Malwadi residents have yet another headache. The frequent breakdowns of motor pumps are making access to this water impossible.

Now, after a week’s drought, the Pune Municipal Corporation’s water supply department has decided to install a spare water pump of 25 HP from Friday. Says an irate resident Vasudev R V Kaimal," There has been no water supply for the last seven days. The water pump has been non-functional since 4-5 days and water tankers are also inadequate."

Deputy City Engineer Vijay Sasse admitted that the water pump’s motor had been ineffective since Wednesday. He, however, pleaded helplessness at the inefficient supply of water to these areas as they had been newly merged within the corporation limits.

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According to Deputy City Engineer V K Deshpande, there are few water tankers to effectively handle the shortage of water in various areas. Earlier, areas like Warje, Balewadi and others came under the gram panchayats. However with the merger of the 38 fringe villages, the water supply officials have to make do with inadequate staff.

There are seven water pumps at Warje and several others which are used to draw the water from the wells at the societies. The major water pump with 25 HP broke down which caused a problem for a few days, Sasse said. The other pumps are of 15 HP and do not have the required capacity to lift the water.

Deshpande also admitted that out of three tankers one each was provided to areas like Baner and Balewadi. The third tanker was undergoing repairs and therefore could not be sent to provide water to Warje. Sasse also pointed out that the merger had brought about serious problems as they would also have to replace the existing pipelines with cast iron ones. He added that the process of removing silt from the 50-feet deep jackwell at Warje-Malwadi will commence within a few days.

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