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As Pune faces water cut, Mundhwa jackwell remains under utilised
The jackwell was inaugurated two years ago and the civic body has not been able to release 550 million litres per day (MLD) from the jackwell which could have saved the city from water scarcity.
The Pune municipal corporation (PMC) has proposed a water cut for the city. This had brought back into focus, the Rs 100 crore jackwell project at Mundhwa, which has been underutilised. The jackwell was inaugurated two years ago and the civic body has not been able to release 550 million litres per day (MLD) from the jackwell which could have saved the city from water scarcity.
The jackwell facility was built to take in sewage water and release it into the canal once it is treated. While the treated water was to be used for agriculture, the saved water was to be used for Pune’s drinking purposes.
The citizen activists have accused the PMC of improper management in discharging the water for irrigation which has lead to the proposed water cut in the city.
The Rs 100 crore worth project called the Mundhwa jackwell project was developed by PMC in the year 2015 to treat the sewage water in the city and later discharge it for irrigation in the nearby villages.
However, instead of discharging 550 million litres per day (MLD) of water according to the initial plan, the authorities have been discharging only 150 MLD of water for irrigation purposes, said activist Vivek Velankar, founder of NGO, Sajak Nagarik Manch.
“The entire system in the PMC has been defunct and unorganised. As against the original plan of giving water from the Mundhwa jackwell project, the PMC has been giving water from dams for irrigation. These actions by the PMC has resulted into the reduction of water level from the dams despite receiving heavy rainfall this year,” said Velankar.
Citizens will now have to suffer from the water cut for the mistake made by the civic authorities, added Velankar.
Refusing to comment on the accusations made by Velankar, VG Kulkarni, PMC's head of the water supply department also refused to share the exact details on the quantity of water which is being discharged daily from the Mundhwa Jack well for irrigation.
He said, “Mundhwa Jackwell project was developed only with the purpose of giving water to the irrigation purpose in the nearby villages. Consequently, we discharge water daily.”
A senior official from the PMC requesting anonymity said, “Although PMC is willing to discharge the water in the full capacity, villagers who use water for irrigation have often cried foul over the water being not properly treated. Consequently, often less water from the jackwell project is discharged.”
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar had inaugurated the project on October 1, 2015. The Rs 100 crore project includes a jackwell, a pumping station and a recycling plant. The treated water is then released form the plant in the Sadesatra nail area on Pune-Solapur road for non-drinking and agriculture purpose.
According to activist Velankar, the authorities have been discharging only 150 MLD of water daily. However, they should be discharging 550 MLD water daily. While 6.50 TMC of water should have been discharged annually, the authorities discharged 6.50 TMC of water in last two years. As a result the remaining demand of water was fulfilled from the dams. This has led to a water cut in the city despite heavy rains during this monsoon.
