Residents of Baner-Balewadi tide over water supply crisis

Pune: After years of water scarcity, thanks to inadequate supply, the Pune Municipal Corporation is spplying ample water to the residents of the Balewadi-Baner area.
Many housing societies in the area today receive a daily supply of water and have reported a drastic reduction in the money spent on water tankers.

The Balewadi-Baner area is among the fastest growing suburbs of the city. In the past few years, residential complexes have come up here in large numbers. However, till recently, water supply was a major concern. Saurabh Joshi, a local resident, said people in Balewadi had to depend on water tankers to meet daily requirements and annual expenses on tankers used to run into lakhs for the housing societies.

Amol Balwadkar, the local corporator, said he recently received letters from over 125 housing societies informing of the improvement in the water supply. “The water issue was discussed with the local residents. Earlier, there were problems pertaining to low pressure and inadequate water supply. In the last one year, major works to improve water supply were prioritised. About 80% of the funds received by me was utilised for water supply works. Demand for tankers has dropped by almost 90% in one year,” he said.

The water supply situation is likely to improve further as four new water tanks are likely to be built up under the 24X7 water supply project, which the PMC is expected to start soon.