E-Paper
Ajit Pawar backs PMC’s demand for 20.34 TMC water supply for city
Leader of the opposition, Ajit Pawar, has backed the Pune Municipal Corporation’s latest demand that the water resources department approve 20
Leader of the opposition, Ajit Pawar, has backed the Pune Municipal Corporation’s latest demand that the water resources department approve 20.34 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) water supply for the city, and requested that an additional 5 TMC water be supplied to the city from Mulshi dam.
Ajit Pawar said, “As the population has risen, it is natural to demand more water. But at the same time, there is a need to maintain a balance between urban and rural areas. When we were in power, we appointed a committee to get water from the Mulshi dam. If Pune gets an additional 5 TMC of water from the Mulshi dam, the Khadakwasla reservoir water can be used for agricultural purposes. The state government needs to approve this and do the needful.”
Recently, the Pune municipal commissioner submitted a letter to the water resources department, demanding that it approve 20.34 TMC water supply for Pune city, considering its growing population. In 2002-2003, the water resources department had approved 11.30 TMC water supply for the city, which has now risen to 16.50 TMC. But with the 23 villages having been merged with the PMC, the civic body has now demanded that the water resources department approve 20.34 TMC water supply for Pune city.
The PMC gets water from the Khadakwasla reservoir mainly from the Khadakwasla, Panshet, Varasgaon and Temghar dams. Additionally, the PMC gets water from the Bhama Askhed dam and the Pavana dam, the latter supplying a small amount of water to some localities under the corporation. Whereas the total storage capacity of the four dams constituting the Khadakwasla reservoir is 29 TMC, with most of this water being supplied to Pune city when ideally, it should be used for agricultural purposes. Hence, there’s always a tussle between the rural and urban areas of the district, and the water resources department keeps writing letters to the PMC in this regard.
The Mulshi dam is owned by the Tata group, and the water is used to generate hydroelectricity after which it empties directly into the sea.
Though municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar asked to approve 20.34 TMC water supply for Pune city, irrigation department has approved only 12.41 TMC water supply.
