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Tanker numbers rise in Pune region as water scarcity hits
Water level in dams has dropped even as civic body is fighting to meet residents’ needs ahead of LS polls
With summer fast approaching, water scarcity has hit parts of Pune region and Maharashtra as a whole.
The city administration has pressed into service at least 300 tankers in Pune region while at least 2,600 tankers have been deployed in the state even as water level in dams has gone down.
According to officials from irrigation department, last year during the same period, water level in various dams in the Pune region comprising of Pune, Sangli, Satara, Kolhapur and Solapur district was 60.95 per cent and no tanker deployed into service. This year, the water level has come down to 47.02 per cent. According to statistics shared by Deepak Mhaisekar, divisional commissioner of Pune region, number of water tankers deployed for water supply in the region has reached 305 by the end of February while during the same period last year, only one tanker was pressed into service. Statistics also shows that 13 water tankers were plying on February 27, 2017.
The situation is largely due to inadequate rainfall across the state, resulting in water scarcity. With Lok Sabha elections scheduled in coming months, government does not want to take chances. The administration is keen to provide tankers as per the demand to prevent anti-incumbency. According to the data available, 88 tankers are plying in Sangli district followed by 79 tankers in Satara and 74 in Pune district.
“We have been giving tankers wherever necessary. In future also, if the situation worsens and there is demand for additional tankers, administration will fulfil the demands accordingly,” said Mhaiskar. As far as Pune district is concerned, 74 tankers are pressed into service so far, according to the data.
Naval Kishore Ram, district collector of Pune said, “As a precautionary measure, we have recently revised our scarcity plan and are considering the demands for tankers from local representatives as well as administrative officers.” He stated that the state government has already sanctioned a proposal of camp for free fodder distribution. “There is need for fodder camp from first week of April and we are ready for it,” he said.
As far as the state is concerned, 2,636 water tankers have been pressed into service as against 294 tankers as on March 5, 2018. Drinking water scarcity is its high in Marathwada region where currently 1,539 tankers have been deployed followed by 681 tankers in Nashik region and 305 in Pune region.
Rs 2 Crore for India’s fist urban public groundwater recharge project
A public groundwater recharge project was proposed in the Pune municipal corporation’s budget 2019 and it has been hailed by residents and environmentalists.
According to Yogesh Mulik, chairman, standing committee, Pune Municipal Corporation, it is India’s first urban public groundwater recharge project. Mulik also said that Rs 2 crore has been allotted in the 2019 budget for urban public groundwater recharge project.
“We are following the footsteps of the Chief Minister. We want to create better water facilities by creating water check dams, augment water table and try it in the urban areas. Hence, after a lot of deliberation and discussions, we decided to add it to the budget,” he said.
“There are a large number of hills and forest land surrounding the city as well as in the newly-included villages. With the help of the forest department, we can set up recharge wells to increase the groundwater in areas like Bhamburda, Pachgaon, Parvati, Warje, Mahatma hills, hills in Sinhagad and Hadapsar,” Mulik said
“ Nowhere till date, has a local municipal government taken a step to have a budget for ground water augmentation and it is a wise step taken by the Mayor, municipal commissioner and the standing committee,” said Vishram Rajhans, a professor and founding member of Baner Pashan Link Road Vikas Samitee and a part of mission groundwater, an non-governmental organisation dedicated to the cause of recharging and conserving groundwater.
Rajhans also added that their group had been holding meetings with the Mayor Mukta Tilak, apart from approaching the collector with their proposal of groundwater project at Baner Pashan hills. He said that the civic administration should include public participation and join hands with non-governmental organisations for better results in their mission.
Pushkar Kulkarni, a resident of Baner, said, “I have been volunteering with Vasundhara Swachhata Abhiyan and we have implemented ground water augmentation techniques on Baner-Pashan hills and also have a well thought out action plan to map, protect and work on the watershed areas of Pune city. If PMC could also use the help of NGOs, then it will help in getting tangible results in defined time limit.”