The Panvel City Municipal Corporation will request the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation to supply water to the residents of Kharghar facing acute water shortage.
Prashant Kale, superintendent engineer, the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), said, “The main source of water for Kharghar node comes from Hetwane dam. However, NH4, NH4B and Amramarg roads are being expanded and we have to shut down water supply to shift the water pipes along these roads. Work to connect the new pipeline will take 24 hours to 48 hours.” S.A. Rao, a resident of Devdarsha society, sector 19, Kharghar, said, “We are deprived of water for nearly seven to 10 days whenever there is a shutdown.”
On Monday, Panvel City Municipal Corporation Commissioner Dr. Sudhakar Shinde held a three-hour-long meeting with CIDCO offcials and residents at Kharghar gram panchayat. Dr. Sudhakar Shinde, PCMC Commissioner, said, “I will be meeting senior officials of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation next week. I will request them to supply water for a day or two whenever the CIDCO shuts down water supply for maintenance work.”
‘Fruitful meeting’
Mangal Kamble, a Kharghar resident, said, “The meeting was fruitful and we hope Mr. Shinde will be able to convince the NMMC to share water. There was a healthy discussion between CIDCO officials, the Commissioner, and citizens.”
CIDCO officials said if the NMMC shared its water resources with Kharghar the water crisis could be resolved. Mr. Kale said, “The Kharghar node has a population of three lakh and CIDCO supplies 58 mld of water every day. But the current requirement is 64 mld. The set requirement is 135 litres per head per day.”
Dr. Shinde said apart from the woes arising due to water shutdown, there have been complaints from a few societies from Sectors 19, 10 and 12 that they are supplied less water. He said, “I have asked the CIDCO engineer concerned to look into the matter and and resolve it.”