From full capacity in August, dams’ stock dips to 3-year low

PUNE: When the dams that supply water to the city were full in August, it is hard to fathom how the city is being subjected to once-a-day supply barely a month after the end of the monsoon.



Pune district, overall, had excess rainfall this year which translated into a collective storage of 27.62 TMC in the dams by August 15.

But by the end of October, the stock had reduced to 24.27 TMC. It was also 2.7 TMC, the city’s water requirement for two months, less than last year’s stock of 26.97 TMC for the same period.

Scanty rain in September and the release of water from the four dams for kharif crops led to a drop in the stock and to curtailed and erratic water supply for five hours a day for the city which may continue till the next monsoon. The city consumes about 50% of the total stock of 29.15 TMC.

Chief engineer T N Munde of the irrigation department, Pune, said the rural parts of the district did not receive rain in September and during the monsoon’s retreat, and the demand for water for the kharif crops in the farming zones here rose.

The canal committee meeting in October decided to curtail the water needs of the city to 1,150 MLD from 1350 MLD to provide for the rural areas.

Leaders of the opposition parties in the civic body blamed guardian minister Girish Bapat and his team in the Pune Municipal Corporation for “mismanagement of water”.

There is no long-term planning for water supply by the PMC and the irrigation department, said Chetan Tupe, leader of the opposition.

“Political leadership and the civic administration are responsible for the current water crises but are blaming it on lack of rain,” he added. Supply is being curtailed for the rural parts as well, Munde said. Only one rotation in summer is likely, he added. Vivek Velankar of Sajag Nagrik Manch, a citizens' group, said treated water from the Mundhwa jackwell should be used for irrigation which will reduce the dependability of the rural areas on the dams’ water.