MLA writes to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for additional water

PUNE: Kothrud MLA Medha Kulkarni has written a letter to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and water resources minister Girish Mahajan — seeking an increase in the water quota for the city.
“The water allocation contract for Pune city was made in 1997. When the contract was signed, Pune’s population was 22 lakh. The number has now gone up to 55 lakh. So the city needs more water today. A new contract must be drawn in view of the increasing population. Though the city must be given 11.50 TMC water, the decision of the irrigation department has limited the city’s supply to just 8.19 TMC. Water supply in the city has been disrupted and citizens have been suffering,” Kulkarni wrote in the letter.

“There have been discussions about reviewing the old contract,” she added.

The letter also pointed out that there have been demands for 16TMC of water for the city since 2012.

“The PMC has tabled a proposal about increasing the 11.50TMC water quota to 16TMC. But the state government has not taken any action on it yet. This is causing discontent among the citizens,” said the letter.

A decision to reduce the city’s water supply by around 200MLD was taken at a canal committee meeting held in Mumbai in October. The PMC was getting around 1,350 MLD of water, which has now been brought down to 1,150 MLD.

The four dams — Khadakwasla, Panshet, Varasgaon and Temghar — that supply water to the city currently have a collective stock of 21.98 TMC, as against 25.92 TMC during the same period last year.

The city’s water supply was reduced to 1,150 MLD a week before Diwali essentially due to low stock. Corporators have since been demanding more water as the supply cap led to scarcity in many areas.