Despite Bhama Askhed completion, tankers in full swing in eastern Pune
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has received additional water from Bhama Askhed dam for the eastern parts of the city but the overall tanker numbers are the same
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has received additional water from Bhama Askhed dam for the eastern parts of the city but the overall tanker numbers are the same.
The PMC has refuted the claim saying that the tanker numbers have gone down drastically on Nagar road and the Vadgaonsheri area.
It was expected that once the water from Bhama Askhed dam would arrive in the city, it would help bring down the tanker numbers but all the tanker points in the city are constantly busy with tankers trying to fill up.
Water department head Aniruddha Pawaskar said, “Earlier the requirement of tankers on Nagar road area was between 75 to 125 per day in the month of February and March but as water has arrived from Bhama Askhed, it has come down to 28 to 30 tankers per day. We are trying to bring it down to zero but it will take time.”
Pawaskar said, “Some parts in Lohegaon like Khandvenagar which got merged recently did not have a water pipeline network. So it’s important to provide them with water through a water tanker. Even some spots in Kharadi are facing water problems, but it will get sorted out. We are developing water lines in the Lohegaon area after which it would be able to achieve the zero-tanker mark in the eastern parts.”
Pawaskar accepted that there is a rush at tanker points to fill up the water.
“It is mainly due to the additional responsibility of water for newly merged areas. These new areas did not have water lines. They got merged recently. So water tankers are going in those areas,” he said.
One of the prominent tanker operators said on anonymity, “Tanker business in the Pune city would never die. By considering the city’s geography, there are always problems in some parts which would not get water. Even after every few years, new areas are going to add in the city. If the tankers get closed in some parts, they move in the newly merged areas. Even after water closure, the water supply got affected in many parts of the city. There is no option than providing water through tankers.”