Times of India 22.07.2009

PUNE: A detailed plan for maintenance and improvement of water treatment plants in the city has been worked out by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, municipal commissioner Mahesh Zagade said, "A plan, worth Rs 9-10 crore will be implemented in phases as per the priorities. Works like construction of protection walls, maintenance of water works, security and the rehabilitation of slums which have popped up in areas of the water works are some of the focal points."

He added that compound wall work has already begun at the Parvati water works. "The city has 47 big drinking water tanks. We plan to appoint a special officer for each tank who will be responsible for the maintenance, distribution and other issues related to water in that particular area," said Zagade.

Last week a Shiv Sena delegation had submitted a memorandum to the municipal commissioner to take action against civic officers responsible for the filthy conditions at the Parvati water works.

The delegation, under the leadership of MLA Arvind Sawant, the Sena's Pune district liaison chief, submitted a memorandum to the municipal commissioner stating, "The surroundings of the Parvati water works is filthy. Drinking water supply to the city is provided from this water works and there is every chance of the water getting contaminated due to the filthy surroundings. There is no security at the water works."

Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale said that the PMC will have a comprehensive plan for water treatment plants in place in next few days. "We should look at this from the long-term point of view. Things will not improve within a day and the PMC will put in efforts so that the measures taken to secure safe drinking water remain for a long time."

Times of India 22.07.2009

PUNE: Citizens in Pimpri-Chinchwad will soon be able to ensure that potholes in the area are repaired promptly. The municipal corporation has taken the initiative to develop a software by which it will monitor complaints about potholes and take immediate action to repair them.

Speaking to TOI on Monday, municipal commissioner Ashish Sharma said that the software is being developed by the Software Technology Park of India (STPI) for the PCMC. It will soon be uploaded on the official website of PCMC so that citizens can access it, Sharma added.

Giving details of the software, Sharma said, "Initially a team of five or six civic employees will be deployed to locate the potholes on the various roads. The information they gather will be put on the website. It will also have updated information about the action taken in repairing the potholes."

Sharma added that later when the corporation gains the confidence that it can handle the pothole repair work quickly, the public will be included in tracking the potholes. "It should not happen that we get many complaints and they pile up. We hope that in a month or two we will be able to allow the citizens to participate and lodge complaints regarding the potholes that they have seen on roads in the municipal limits. We would like to develop our system wherein the potholes can be repaired within two days in normal weather conditions." he said.

An official at the engineering department said, "A demonstration of the software was held for civic officials recently. We are checking the shortcomings in the software and they will be rectified soon. Junior engineers in the civic engineering department will be trained to handle the software and use it."

Incidentally, several potholes have developed on the internal roads of Pimpri-Chinchwad due to last week's heavy rains.