PUNE Ahead of the upcoming civic polls, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is facing resistance from local representatives and residents over the installation of water meters under the 24x7 water project, especially in Katraj and Dhankawadi.
To resolve the irregular, uneven and insufficient water supply problem in the city, the civic body initiated the project, approved in February 2018 at a cost of Rs2,550 crore.
Of this, PMC has raised ₹200 crore through bonds. It has also levied water charges, being charged for the past one year.
The project work began last December. The project aims to provide a safe and equitable water supply to all areas for the next 30 years. With this, water will be supplied 24x7, water losses would be reduced, and technological, economic and environmental sustainability of the water supply service will be ensured.
The PMC awarded the contract of the project to Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) and Jain Irrigation. These agencies are installing commercial meters and laying down pipelines across the city. Right now, only L&T is working on the project. PMC has stopped Jain Irrigation from working. It was supposed to cover the Hadapsar area.
Nand Kumar Jagtap, superintendent engineer of water supply department said, “Earlier, we faced a problem of installation of water meters in the east part of the city, like Lohegaon, Kalas-Dhanori areas, as people were receiving insufficient water supply. However, after the Bhama-Askhed water project. People are happy to install water meters. The work has speeded up in the heart of the city and other areas, excluding Hadapsar.”
{{/usCountry}}Nand Kumar Jagtap, superintendent engineer of water supply department said, “Earlier, we faced a problem of installation of water meters in the east part of the city, like Lohegaon, Kalas-Dhanori areas, as people were receiving insufficient water supply. However, after the Bhama-Askhed water project. People are happy to install water meters. The work has speeded up in the heart of the city and other areas, excluding Hadapsar.”
{{/usCountry}}He further said, “Now we are facing a problem in Katraj and Dhankawadi to install water meters. However, we are trying to convince them the importance of water meter installation for the accountability of water use.”
“Due to Covid-19, we had stopped awareness and promotions activities of 24x7 water project. Now, we will restart it,” he added.
One of the PMC officials on 24x7 water project team said, “Local representative are not cooperating with us. They are pushing local residents to resist to water meters, especially in areas where illegal water connection are provided by local corporators. Most of the people in Dhankawadi and Katraj have taken illegal connections. During installation of the water meters, we come to know about illegal connections.”
As civic polls are scheduled in the next few months, local representatives don’t want to lose votes due to installation of water meters. “So they are supporting the resistance,” he added.
At present, L&T has completed work in Viman nagar, Kharadi, Aundh and Baner. Of 141 metering zones, PMC has set targets to complete 50 zones by December 2021. PMC has set a deadline to complete the project by March 2023, as mentioned in contract.
Under this project, contractors will have to lay down 1,600 metres of water pipelines and install the 350,000 water meters in the city. At present, the contractor installed 52,000 meters so far.