Around 8 lakh people residing in hilly pockets of city have to buy potable water, but PMC finds report suggesting use of ground water 'redundant'
Around 8 lakh people residing in hilly pockets of city have to buy potable water, but PMC finds report suggesting use of ground water 'redundant'
Around eight lakh people residing in the hilly pockets of the city are getting inadequate amount of drinking water because of low pressure in PMC pipelines. With the onset of summer, the situation is likely to become grim in Katraj, Gokulnagar, Ahmadnagar Road, Wagholi and Dhanori where people are already forced to buy tanker water at exorbitant prices from water mafia.
Written off: GSDA director K M Nagargoje (left) and his deputy Suresh
Khandale conducted a survey on city's groundwater in 2007
But an overconfident PMC seems busy patting its back by saying that there is abundance of water in the city. The civic body apparently little interested in implement the suggestion of a survey report, conducted three years ago by Ground Water Survey and Development Agency (GSDA).
GSDA director K M Nagargoje said, "PMC had asked us to prepare the report four years ago. If the PMC would have implemented at least a few recommendations made by us, the perennial drinking water crisis of the city could have been solved to a large extent."
GSDA additional director Suresh Khandale said PMC is the only municipal corporation, which gives maximum water to its citizens, but does not bother to use the ample of ground water for drinking purposes.
According to Khandale, the city has a total of 4,820 borewells and 399 dugwells. "As per our survey, there are at least 100 dug wells having quality water that can be used for drinking purposes," he added.
These areas are mostly located in the suburban parts, including Katraj, Undari, Pisoli, Ambegaon Baner and Wadgaon Budruk. The water in these wells can cater to the needs of around five lakh people in the city during crisis situations. Dr Mukund Ghare, an expert in water management, said that PMC could have studied the GSDA report and made its own groundwater policy as ground water is getting polluted by various reasons -- mainly because industrial discharge. They can also preserve wells having quality water, he offered.
PMC not worried
According to Vijay Kulkarni, PMC development engineer (water supply), there is no need to enforce the GSDA survey so far as the city has ample stock of water. "It is also true that we provide 15 MLD (million litre per day) water to the hilly areas such as Katraj, Gokulnagar, Ahmadnagar Road, Wagholi and Dhanori, where pressure of water is low," he said.
Costly tanker water
Residents of Hadapsar, Kondhwa and Wanawadi have no options but to buy drinking water from tankers, owned by water mafia, as the pressure of water in PMC pipeline is low. "You have to pay anything between Rs 800 and Rs 500 for a tanker (10,000 litres) of drinking water," said Digambar Mane, a activist associated with Yuva Vikas Sanstha, an NGO.
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