The Indian Express              07.08.2013

As Pune set to get water twice a day, plan for 24X7 supply in Pimpri-Chinchwad gains momentum

With the success of its 24X7 water supply pilot project in the suburb of Yamunanagar, introduced in March last year, PCMC is now gearing up to put to implement the same plan in two more suburbs within two months, after which it will be implemented in the entire town. PCMC water supply department executive engineer Pravin Ladkat said, "We have given 2,800 water connections Yamunanagar. The project has been running smoothly."

At the same time, residents of the industrial area will have little joy as PCMC is not in a position to increase water supply even though the Pavana dam, which supplies water to Pimpri-Chinchwad, in 95 per cent full. Civic officials said this is because the civic body is not entitled to lift additional water from the dam more than the allotted quota of around 450 million litres a day (MLD).

PCMC has also decided to provide 24X7 water supply to Pradhikaran and Premlok Park (Chinchwad) areas in two months time. Ladkat said the process has already been started. Overall, 40 per cent of the town will get round the clock water. "After this, the plan is provide round-the-clock water to the entire Pimpri-Chinchwad," civic officials said.

The idea of providing 24X7 water supply was first mooted by the then municipal commissioner Dilip Band nearly 24 years ago. However, the plan never took off during his tenure. The plan resurfaced again during the tenure of municipal commissioner Asheesh Sharma, but failed to materialise due to agitation over the Rs 400 crore closed pipeline plan — which has been stuck for three years now as farmers have refused to allow the laying of the pipeline.

Water department officials said water is provided in Yamunanagar through double stage pumping – first from the water treatment plant in Sector 23 (Pradhikaran) to an elevated storage reservoir (ESR) at Triveninagar, and then from the ESR to homes. Officials said a bypass system has been employed by which water is supplied through a gravity flow system. Civic officials said Yamunanagar was isolated from the rest of the water distribution system and all leaks were plugged.

Hrushikesh Tapshalkar, a resident of Yamunanagar, said they have been getting round-the-clock water for a year now. "We don't have to store water in buckets and utensils like residents in other areas," he said. Tapshalkar said the water bills are also not high. "Since taps are turned on only when water is required, there is no wastage," he said.

Corproator Sulbha Ubale said the Yamunanagar scheme has been very successful. "Nearly 20,000 residents have benefited. Ubale said when the trial was on, PCMC detected 40 per cent leakage in its underground pipeline. "Once this was plugged, things begun to change," she said.

Municipal commissioner Shrikar Pardeshi has often said that if round-the-clock water is provided, it curtails wastage of water. "Some foreign countries follow this and this drastically cuts water wastage. Also, when water is available, public hygiene improves and there are less diseases and infections. The level of cleanliness in the town also improves drastically," he says.

Civic officials said the commissioner is keen on faster implementation of the round the clock water supply system. Welcoming the initiative, former corporator Sopan Londhe said PCMC should implement the plan first in areas which are struggling to get their daily quota of water.

Currently, while residents in Gurav Pimple, Sangvi and Pimple Nilakh get adequate supply, residents in Bhosari, Indrayani Nagar, Dighi, Kasarwadi Dapodi, Phugewadi and a few other suburbs struggle to get their daily quota of water.

Things are worse in residential societies. Jeetendra Shah, member of Goyal Residency in Kasarwadi, said, "We stock water in our tank in the evening through water supplied by PCMC. The tank water is then made available to flat owners in the morning. However, we are not in a position to supply water to in the evening because we cannot stock enough," he said. The situation is the same in other residential societies in town. "PCMC should implement the 24X7 water plan in our area as we struggle to get water daily," he said.