Pipeline project near Parvati back on track after board examinations

PUNE: The civic body on Tuesday postponed the Parvati-Cantonment water pipeline work in Parvati area citing the ongoing Maharashtra state board, CBSE and ICSE examinations.
A large number of students and their parents move across the city to the exam centres and any traffic diversion will take them longer to reach the schools in time. Work will be planned after these examinations are over, civic officials said on Tuesday.

On Monday, the traffic branch of the Pune police had announced changes in the traffic movement in Parvati area from this week to execute the pipeline work.

A road and the bridge from Neelayam theatre towards Parvati was to be closed for vehicles to lay the pipeline. On Tuesday, the PMC rolled back the decision with a circular clarifying that the work will be taken up only after the examinations.

A civic official said the administration has been laying a 2,200mm diameter iron cast pipeline from Parvati waterworks up to Cantonment waterworks to streamline water supply in the city. The project has reached its final stages and is expected to get over in the next few months.

The official said the pipeline is going across many roads. One such crossing is near Parvati. The work at this stretch was scheduled to be executed during the next few days. It will now be taken up next month and the details will be announced later, he said.

The laying of pipeline up to Cantonment waterworks has been a long pending project. It is a crucial project for the PMC to keep a tab on water losses in transportation and also ensure continuous supply.

The Cantonment waterworks at present gets water supply from an open irrigation canal. This practice of lifting water from the open canal will stop after the direct pipeline is in place. Sources said the civic body will not have to depend on the irrigation canal.

The civic administration wants to finish the work before monsoon. Recently, the work near Solapur Bazaar and Golibar Maidan was completed.