Indian Express 4.11.2009

Water woes: BMC to issue notices to govt offices

As the city reels under water crisis, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has decided to serve notices to all government offices asking them to plug leakages in water pipelines on their premises at the earliest. The BMC will paste notices in all public offices like BMC offices, Mantralaya, public hospitals, police stations etc giving them 48 hours to plug leakages in their building.

After the stipulated time is over, water supply to defaulting offices will be cut. “A lot of water is wasted because of leakages along pipes and in toilets in these buildings. We will curb water supply to those offices who don’t repair their leakages on urgent basis,” hydraulic engineer Dinesh Gondaliya said.

Out of the city’s total supply of 3450 million litres per day, 700 mld is wasted everyday due to thefts and leakages. At present, there is 9 lakh million litres water available till the next monsoon. The demand is that of 13 lakh million liters. To curb thefts and leakages, the civic body has started a toll free helpline number (108) where citizens can complain about thefts and leakages.

Indian Express 4.11.2009

Irrigation dept wants to hike water cut

Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the Irrigation Department on Wednesday meet to take a decision on implementation of a further water cut in the city.

The Irrigation Dept wants to bring a 5 per cent water cut in addition to the ten per cent already existing.

The civic authorities say that since ten per cent water cut is already there, it could be reduced to five per cent. Last week, the Irrigation Department suggested the civic body to implement water cut, taking into consideration the water needs for the remaining part of the year.

“Since there is only 85 per cent water storage in the dams at present, we have proposed to go for a total of 15 per cent slash in water supply. Whatever the civic body decides, we will provide less water to Pune Municipal Corporation for public distribution, since we have to conserve water. Less water storage in dams has compelled us to take the decision. Now, the civic body will have to take a decision on how the water should be distributed,” Avinash Surve, superintending engineer of Irrigation Dept said.

Chief of the civic water supply Pramod Nirbhavne said the Irrigation Dept had sent a letter proposing this move.

“At present, ten per cent water cut is being implemented in the city. However, it is only after the meeting, we will be able to take a decision” Nirbhavne said.

Civic activist of Sajag Nagrik Manch, Vivek Velankar said, “Puneites have been patient and cooperative for last three months over water cuts. Now, there talk about further water cut is going on. We can understand that due to the less, dams providing water to city are just 85 per cent full and hence 15 per cent water cut is essential. But at the same time, the civic body should stick to the specified amount of water cut.”