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Activists, opposition leaders cry foul over PMC’s change in water tanker specs
PMC’s latest decision to decrease the quantity of water supplied per tanker will only end up helping the water tanker lobby, activists and opposition party leaders have alleged
PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC’s) latest decision to decrease the quantity of water supplied per tanker will only end up helping the water tanker lobby, activists and opposition party leaders have alleged.
Last week, the PMC water supply department invited bids to supply water through tankers in Ambegaon khurd, Gurjarwadi, Dhayari, Kothrud, Baner, Bavdhan, Undri and other areas based on demand from citizens. While the earlier system mandated that each tanker supply 10,000 litre of water, the civic body has now changed specifications and allowed each tanker to supply between 8,000 and 12,000 litre of water.
There are seven tanker points in the city where contractors fill up tankers with water to supply it to various areas. So far, the PMC was paying each water tanker with 10,000 litre capacity Rs1,135 per trip. With the change in terms and conditions, the PMC will now pay each water tanker with 8,000 litre capacity the same rate. Ferrying and supplying a lesser quantity of water at the same rate will help the contractor as it may increase the number of trips made by each tanker to supply water to areas facing shortage.
Civic activist Vivek Velanker said, “The change in terms and conditions mentioned in the tender will definitely help the water tanker lobby. The number of trips will automatically increase with the PMC having reduced the water-carrying capacity.”
However, PMC officials said that the decision has been taken to streamline the water distribution process. Aniruddha Pawaskar, head of the water supply department, said, “We supply tanker water to different parts of the city where people are facing shortage. It is free of cost. We float tenders and award contracts to contractors holding PMC licenses. Earlier, the PMC found that the contractor was showing an increased capacity (10,000 litre) on paper while actually carrying only 8,000 litre. So we decided to rectify it and avoid misuse by incorporating the condition of 8,000 litre, based upon which the PMC will pay money.”
At present, the PMC supplies water to different parts of the city through more than 500 tankers. The fringe areas where water is supplied include: Baner, Bavdhan, Balewadi, Uruli-Devachi, Fursungi, Hadapsar, Warje-Malwadi, Wadgaon-Dhayari, Ambegaon khurd and Budruk, with a majority of the tankers supplying water to Uruli-Devachi and Fursungi. There are about 24,000 tanker trips per month to supply water to different parts of the city. With increase in demand during the summer season, the number of trips goes up to 27,000. The PMC has spent around Rs15 crore so far on this.
Aba Bagul, Congress party leader and senior corporator, said, “In a smart city like Pune, the PMC should have implemented an online system to book and deliver tankers like the booking of domestic gas. There is no audit of the water tanker supply. All the work is being carried out manually. There is a chance of malpractice in the water tanker distribution system.”
Further, Velanker raised doubts as to whether the meters placed on each tanker are working or not. “We had demanded that water meters be placed to measure the water and avoid misuse while filling up water tankers. The PMC placed water meters but I don’t know whether they are working or not,” he said.
However, Prasanna Joshi, executive engineer of the water supply department, said, “Water meters are operating at water tanker points. We are also keeping a record of water tanker trips. We have data of daily, weekly, monthly and yearly water tanker trips. Besides that, we have made it compulsory to place GPS systems in all tankers to keep a record of and track the movement of tankers. All tankers have a GPS system.”
