The Times of India          11.11.2010

PUNE: The state cabinet has approved the Rs 49-crore water supply scheme of Alandi Municipal Council (AMC) which will draw water from the Bhama-Askhed dam on Bhama river.

Vilas Kurhade, municipal council president, told TOI on Wednesday, "The cabinet approved the project a few days ago and the irrigation department has also given permission to draw water from the Bhama-Askhed dam."

He said, "The AMC will draw one crore litres of water per day from the dam and bring it to the temple town through a 13-km-long pipeline. A new filtration plant will be built to purify this water."

The residential areas in the town are located close to the five main roads going towards Dehu road, Chakan, Wadgaon, Charholi and Sulu. Elevated storage reservoirs (ESR) with a capacity to store 10 lakh litres of water each will be built along the five roads to cater to the population, Kurhade added.

"At present, there is a water tank on a hill near Dehu Road that has capacity to store 10 lakh litres of water. Two new water tanks will be constructed on this hill. Subsequently, this water will reach the five tanks along the five roads, Kurhade said." The fund for development of pilgrimage centres will be used for the scheme, Kurhade said.

Kurhade said that currently the AMC lifts water from a bund on Indrayani river for its drinking water scheme. But, due to rapid urbanisation of Chikhli, Talawade and nearby areas, there has been an increase in the release of untreated domestic sewage into the river upstream. The water has become unfit for consumption necessitating a new water supply scheme.

The first water supply scheme for Alandi was designed in 1931 for a population of 2,000 people. Later, another project was implemented under the Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran scheme in 1975. "Now, the population of Alandi has grown to 37,500 and around 50,000 people visit the town for pilgrimage and marriages every year," Kurhade said.