E-Paper
Citizen group writes to CM to expedite Bhama Askhed project
The residents of Ahmednagar road have written a letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to expedite the Bhama Askhed dam project. The citizens have been suffering
The residents of Ahmednagar road have written a letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to expedite the Bhama Askhed dam project. The citizens have been suffering from water scarcity and inequitable distribution by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) despite paying additional arbitrary and excessive charges for tanker-water supply.
They said that the civic administration has delayed the dam project in Khed taluka.
The residents state that the completion of the project will improve water supply to the north east parts of Pune. In the letter, a copy of which is with HT, it is mentioned that opposition from farmers whose land is required for the project has led to delay in completing the project.
The letter, written by the Association of Nagar Road Citizens Forum, states that residents have continued to feel let down by Maharashtra’s governance for not stepping in to resolve the issue.
According to residents, for a project costing ₹380 crore, there should have been a checklist prepared which should have included public outreach to farmers/villagers and signed agreement on right to compensation. The letter also calls out the recent agitation by councillors across party lines which happened on November 21 in the PMC’s general body meeting, as superficial.
It further mentions that since 2014, the project has only hiccupped and limped because there has been no seriousness by successive governments to solve various issues related to obstacle-free laying of the 42 km pipeline.
The association states that since there has been no distribution of portfolios as yet, the letter has been addressed directly to the chief minister. Last week, the PMC sanctioned an additional ₹10 crore for the much-delayed project.
Head: So far.. not so good
-In 2014, the pipeline project initiated to supply water to north east Pune covering Ahmednagar road, Kalas, Sangamwadi, Yerawada, Tingrenagar, Lohegaon, Dhanori, Kalyaninagar, Vimannagar, Chandannagar, Wadgaonsheri and Kharadi
₹380.17 crore: total cost
42 km: length of the pipeline
The project would supply 2.8 TMC water to 14.5 lakh people
2017: Initial deadline for project completion
Brief chronology of events
-2014: Continued opposition by MLA Suresh Gore (Shiv Sena) and MP Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil (Shiv Sena)
-Oct 2015: Locals of Karanje Vihare damaged machinery
-May 2017: Girish Bapat met MLA Gore after which he gave permission to resume work
-Project deadline was revised to 2018 due to protest by farmers
-July 2017, BJP office-bearer of Khed constituency and president of Bhama Askhed Jalandolan, Satyavan Navale stopped work
- Aug 2019, PMC sought police cover
-Sep 2019, local villagers stopped work on the jackwell
-Sep 2019, for 4th time since Jan 2019, villagers and farmers stopped work
-Nov 2019, all parties hold superficial agitation in PMC by holding civic administration responsible for delay
-Dec 2019, PMC sanctioned ₹10 crore for affected farmers to avoided repeated delays
