PMC’s grand plan
Pune city has been fortunate to have availability of ample water due to existing resources of four dams — those in Khadakwasla, Panshet, Varasgaon and Temghar — on the upstream of Mutha river. However, the increasing population of the city has led it to face water shortage during the last few summers, forcing the civic administration to introduce water cuts to an extent where it is provided only on alternate days. While some parts of the city receive water in insufficient quantity and pressure of flows, distributed over a few hours per day, central parts of Pune are benefited by availability of a large amount of water and adequate pressures.
To ensure adequate water supply to all, the Pune Municipal Corporation has been working on a comprehensive project to cater to the demands of an increasing population till 2047 at least.
Increasing demand
Pune city, with a population of about 4 million, consumes about 1250 million litres of water every day, according to the PMC. This implies a per capita consumption of more than 300 litres per day, which is much more than the prescribed standards of 135 to 200 litres per capita per day (lpcd) depending on the size and population of a city. Considering that a substantial proportion of the residents are still facing water shortages, it is obvious that there are large amounts of leakages, unaccounted usage, and wastage. The population of the city has grown from about 2.5 million in 2001 to about 4 million now. It is expected to grow to about 7.5 million in the next 30 years. As of now, less than 30 per cent of the consumer connections, mostly those belonging to commercial establishments, are metered. Most residents do not pay any separate water charge. It is included as part of property tax and there are no limits on usage. Illegal or unregistered connections are abundant. There are nine water treatment plants in the city with a combined capacity of 1263 million litres per day (MLD). Piped water supply is provided to almost the entire city including the areas of Pune Cantonment Board, Khadki Cantonment Board, defence establishments, and rural neighbourhoods. The pipe network is of about 2700 km. The network in parts of the city is very old, and high leakages are prevalent. The water supply is largely intermittent, with average supply of six hours every day. Depending on the locality it varies between 2 and 20 hours per day. There are 85 storage reservoirs, with a combined capacity of 290 million litres. There are 67 waters supply zones in the city.
The new project
The new project under implementation seeks to assure every resident of 24×7 uninterrupted supply of good quality water. Estimated to cost a total of Rs 2818 crore, the project is set to be completed within the next five years. There are plans to augment storage capacities by constructing reservoirs, introducing metering policy with a telescopic tariff plan that will penalise high users and incentivise conservation, upgrading supply network and reducing water losses. On completion of this project, the entire city will get uninterrupted pressurised water supply. The water saved can cater to the additional population that the city is expected to attract.
Tariff unit model for water user categories
Once it becomes operational, the new system is likely to bring a drastic change in the payment of the water charges which will be based on the actual amount of water consumed. The PMC administration has been stressing that introduction of separate water charges would not be any burden on the people till they use the water rationally. With telescopic tariffs the consumers using less than or up to standard per capita water allowance of 150 lpcd will pay the minimum specified bench mark rate, whereas consumers using water more than stipulated level of consumption will have to pay for water at higher rates. After introduction of this system, PMC hopes to be able to recover revenue expenditure of water supply operations. “The consumers will be motivated to use less water to save on water supply bill. However, for this purpose 100 per cent metered water supply is essential,” said V G Kulkarni, in-charge of PMC water supply department.
Equitable water supply for Pune city
For sufficient and equal water supply to all, the city has been divided into 141 water supply zones and into further sub zones as 328 District Metering Areas. There would be construction of 103 new storage reservoirs for a total storage capacity of 634 ML which is projected to be 30 per cent of the water demand in the city by the year 2047.
Revamping the water supply network
The new project also involves development of an additional supply network of about 1600 km and installation of pressure sensors to ensure adequate flows in the pipes. Flow metres are proposed to be installed in every subzone for monitoring pressures. The PMC hopes that this will help carry out regular water audits and keep losses within the targeted 15 per cent of total supply.