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Water Supply

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

Wednesday, 07 August 2013 09:26 administrator
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The Indian Express              07.08.2013

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

After the four dams supplying water to the city filled up to the brim, residents under the jurisdiction of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) have been promised water twice a day and residents of Pimpri-Chinchwad will soon get an unlimited supply.

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.

 

Water only once in 3 days from Aug 15

Monday, 05 August 2013 12:27 administrator
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The Times of India            05.08.2013

Water only once in 3 days from Aug 15

HYDERABAD: Come August 15, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) will roll out an Independence Day 'gift' to residents of the city - water once in three days.

The Water Board has been supplying water on alternate days since 2010 due to poor inflows into the two reservoirs that serve the city - Osmansagar and Himayatsagar. Ironically, though the Water Board sources nearly 300 of the 340 million gallons per day (MGD) it supplies to the city from Singur and Krishna which have received considerable inflows, it has still decided to cut down supply citing poor inflows into the two reservoirs on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

"Though there has been good rainfall across the state and major reservoirs received enough water, the city's drinking water sources are empty. Based on the availability of water levels in the twin reservoirs Osmansagar and Himayatsagar, we prepared an action plan regarding supplies last week. As per the feedback given by general managers of various operations and divisions, we have decided to supply water only once in three days," a senior HMWS&SB official told TOI.

The Water Board would implement the decision from August 15 onwards. It has also decided to cut the quantity of the supply by 10 million gallons per day (MGD) from both the reservoirs. Presently, the board has been supplying 317 MGD of water to the city, the official said.

As per official records, there are 7.90 lakh water connections in and around the city. Of them, around 4.5 lakh connections have been getting water on alternate days from 2010, while the remaining 5.4 lakh connections have been getting supplies only once in three/four/five days a week. "We will supply water once in three days to 4.5 lakh water connections which covers nearly half the city. For others, there will be no change in schedule," the official said.

 

NMC needs 2 days to roll back water cut

Saturday, 03 August 2013 05:09 administrator
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The Times of India              03.08.2013

NMC needs 2 days to roll back water cut

NASHIK: Despite the announcement by the standing committee of the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) on Thursday that upto 20% water cut in the city will be rolled back from Friday, the civic administration sought two days' time to make arrangements for the same. The water cut is now to be rolled back from Monday.

The city requires around 14 million cubic feet (mcft) of water per day. After the cut, 12 mcft water was being supplied per day. After the rollback on the water cut from Monday, the supply will be resumed to 14 mcft.

Ramesh Dhongade, chairman of the NMC standing committee, had directed the civic administration on Thursday to roll back the existing water cut immediately from Friday. But civic officials on Friday sought two more days for the process, citing logistics as the reason for the time required. "We will have to form a policy on water. After having rolled back the water cut, we will have to decide the phases for supplying water in all six divisions of the NMC. At some places, we will have to supply water in the morning, while we will have to supply water in other places in the evening. More time will be required to make the time-table for water distribution in the city," said U K Dharmadhikari, executive engineer (water distribution) of the NMC.

The civic body had imposed a 10% daily cut in water supply from February 15 and once-a-week dry day every Tuesday from February 19 in all six divisions of the city - Nashik East, Nashik West, Nashik Road, Panchavati, Cidco and Satpur. However, following opposition from citizens against the dry day, the NMC started providing water once a day on all days of the week, with 15-20% water cuts, from March 18.

Nashik municipal commissioner Sanjay Khandare on Tuesday had already announced that the civic administration had decided to roll back the water cut from August 5.

"We have already directed the civic administration to roll back the water cut and they have sought time for two days to make the arrangements. The water level in the Gangapur dam, the main source of drinking water for city, has increased a lot and over 5,000 cusecs of water has been released from the Gangapur dam. At this juncture, why shouldn't the water cut be rolled back in the city? This was the reason I had directed the civic administration to roll back the existing water cut immediately from Friday," Dhongade told TOI on Friday.

"Our mayor Yatin Wagh was also out of the city and it was necessary to take a decision on the water cut. The decision of water cut was taken following discussions with Wagh," Dhongade said.

"We will require time to make arrangements for the rollback. Water supply to the city will be regularised from Monday," said a senior NMC official.

Continuous spells of good rain has increased the water level in the Gangapur group of dams - Gangapur, Kashyapi and Gautami Godavari - from 4,219 mcft to 6,793 mcft, over the past 25 days, which is 73% of the total capacity. The Gangapur group of dams is the main source of water supply to the city.

The water level of the Gangapur dam, which has a total capacity of 5,630 mcft, was recorded at 4,666 mcft on Friday (83% of total capacity) as against 1,858 mcft (35% of total capacity) on the corresponding day last year. The level in Kashyapi, which has a total capacity of 1,852 mcft, was recorded at 1,010 mcft, which is 55% of the total capacity. The water stock in the dam was 472 mcft (25% of total capacity) on the corresponding day last year. The water level in Gautami Godavari, which has a capacity of 1,883 mcft, was recorded at 1,117 mcft on Friday (59% of total capacity) as compared to 329 mcft (17% of total capacity) on the same day last year.

"There is no need of the water cut in Nashik: the civic administration's supply is adequate and we are fortunate to get abundant water, compared to regions like Marathwada. Nashikites should exercise water discipline and use water carefully," said Sonali Khairnar, a housewife.

"Water tankers are still being used in parts of the city, like Hirawadi. If the Gangapur dam is filled over 80% and thousands of cusecs of water are being released in the river Godavari, why shouldn't the civic administration roll back the water cut?" said 58-year-old citizen S K Mathur.

 
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