PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is expected to begin work on equitable distribution of water in the city in the next few months.

As of now, there is imbalance in the distribution system. The core areas of the city get adequate water supply, but the situation is different in the fringe areas. The civic body has envisaged 100% metered water supply in the city to tide over this imbalance, said V G Kulkarni, PMC's water department chief, on Monday.

He was speaking at a seminar on waste water technology for a green economy, organized by the society for environment education research and management. A detailed project report on equitable water distribution would be ready in the next two months. "The civic body has appointed a consultant for the equitable water distribution project which will be implemented over four to five years," Kulkarni said.

"The civic body is supplying 1,150 MLD (million litres per day) water for the city's 40 lakh population. This supply works out to 300 litres per capita per day (lpcd) which is almost double the yardstick. However, it is not true that all citizens get that much water. The core city areas get more than the fringe areas," Kulkarni said.

The consultant has been studying the total water distribution system. The civic body has a total of 70 water reservoirs and the supply is being monitored. The cost of implementation of equitable distribution of water project is over Rs 1,500 crore, he said.

The city lacks a water metering system and citizens pay a lumpsum tax up to Rs 1,100 per year irrespective of the water they use. The civic body has planned to implement 100% water metering system, he added.

Sewage treatment is also a concern as the city is not able to treat the entire 750 MLD sewage generated. The treatment plants have the capacity to treat only 567 MLD. The civic body has tied up with Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran to meet the demands for treating all the sewage generated by 2047, he said.

Dwelling on the challenges of management of water, chief engineer of the water resources department of the state government Avinash Surve said increasing urbanization will result in competition for use of water for domestic purposes, although water is also essential for irrigation and industrial purposes.

One of the challenges faced for management of water is during monsoon as the rainfall pattern is non-consistent with the past statistical data. "In the past four to five years, there has been scanty rainfall in June. Rainfall is not well distributed throughout the season. More rain in a short duration creates challenges for flood management," he said.

All dams, he said, should be filled with water by October 15, the end of the monsoon. "If dams are not full even after good rains, it is a drought-like situation," he said.

Water researcher Ah Kie Lim stressed the need for international cooperation and sharing of best practices and ideas on water management. Convenor of the seminar, Mangesh Kashyap, also spoke.