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No water in Peth areas amid festivities, residents irked
Punekars celebrating the Ganpati festival especially Gauri poojan in all the peth areas, including the suburbs of Sahakarnagar and Parvati, were deprived of water supply for the entire day on Sunday following disruption of services at the Parvati Waterworks station
Punekars celebrating the Ganpati festival especially Gauri poojan in all the peth areas, including the suburbs of Sahakarnagar and Parvati, were deprived of water supply for the entire day on Sunday following disruption of services at the Parvati Waterworks station. While the residents of these areas vented their anger towards the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Maharashtra State Energy Distribution Company (MSEDCL), saying that both government bodies failed to rise to the occasion, forcing citizens to suffer on one of the most important days of the ongoing festival.
The residents of the peth areas including Bibvewadi and Parvati complained of complete breakdown of water supply. They pointed out that on Sunday morning, there was a breakdown in electricity supply to the Parvati water supply department. “All the peth areas in the city as well as the adjoining suburbs could not get water during Gauri puja. Water supply could not be restored till Sunday evening. All the religious activities suffered immensely due to unprofessional conduct and lack of sensitivity on the part of the PMC and MSEDCL authorities. It is a pathetic situation and PMC must accept its failure in discharging their duties towards the citizens,” said Anita Gosavi, a Sadashiv peth resident.
Rohit Kulkarni, a resident of Mukundnagar, said, “There has been no water supply since the morning which added to our woes, especially when everyone is celebrating the Ganapati festival and Gauri puja at home. The elected representatives are also of no use since their terms have ended.” According to Kulkarni, the supply was restored only by evening.
The women were among those who suffered the most as they could not complete the rituals on time owing to the lack of water, and blamed both the government bodies for their callous approach.
“The PMC water supply department and the MSEDCL authorities are responsible for the mismanagement which inconvenienced citizens on the day of Gauri visarjan, which is shameful and shows that the civic body does not care for the people and is only interested in collecting taxes,” said Tanvi Patil, a housewife from Parvati.
“The PMC water supply department shuts down water supply for a few days every month for carrying out repairs and maintenance work. Even then, such blunders keep happening and citizens suffer tremendously during times of celebrations like the ongoing Ganapati festival,” Patil said.
While civic activists said that there was no water supply in the peth areas and suburbs due to the absence of power supply. The Parvati water supply department supplies water to the Lashkar water division and owing to the lack of power supply, the entire eastern suburban area was affected. According to civic activists, 50% of the city had to go without water on Sunday.
Anirudh Pavaskar, head of the water supply department, said, “There was a malfunction in power supply on Sunday morning. Hence, the water tanks were not filled to their full capacity. Due to this, problems arose in water supply. However after rectification of the fault, instructions were given to provide water to the areas that were previously impacted.”
