Pavana river, the lifeline of Pimpri-Chinchwad. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)Pavana river, the lifeline of Pimpri-Chinchwad, has been overflowing for the past two weeks. Pavana dam, which provides water for eight months in a year, has been filled to capacity. And it has been raining copiously. Yet, 20 lakh residents of the industrial city of Pimpri-Chinchwad are struggling to get their daily quota of drinking water.
Reason: Pimpri-Chinchwad Mayor Rahul Jadhav wants to perform a ‘jal pujan’ and has been apparently looking for an auspicious day to scrap the alternate day water supply arrangement and restore the every day supply system that existed before May 6. And he has found one.
“We will perform ‘jal pujan’ at Pavana dam on Wednesday and then we will restore the old system,” the mayor said after a civic review meeting held on Monday. Jadhav said he was performing the puja to ensure that the dam level caters to Pimpri-Chinchwad residents till next monsoon.
Municipal Commissioner Shravan Hardikar had on Sunday indicated to this paper that his administration was ready to restore the old system from Monday after the meeting. However, the mayor had other ideas as he insisted on performing ‘jal pujan’.
Opposition leader Nana Kate, who was present at the meeting, said he urged the administration to restore the old water supply system as the Pavana river was overflowing and Pavana dam was also full. “There was water everywhere in the industrial city as it has rained heavily. However, residents, except in a couple of suburbs, were struggling to get drinking water. We told the administration that since PCMC does not have to draw water from Pavana dam till September-end, it can easily draw water from Pavana river which was also overflowing…,” he said.
Kate said the administration also agreed to restore the supply and increase the quota of water being drawn from Pavana river. “However, after the meeting, the mayor seem to have changed his mind and he insisted on conducting ‘jal pujan’ at Pavana dam. We don’t know what purpose that will serve,” he said.
Shiv Sena leader Rahul Kalate also said he was surprised at the mayor’s stance. “Everything was finalised at the meeting. It was agreed that the old water supply system should be restored so that local residents can get immediate relief after days of struggling with trying to get adequate quota of water. The mayor, however, surprised us by insisting on performing the ‘jal pujan’,” he said.
Former mayor and NCP leader Mangala Kadam said, “The mayor’s priority should have been to first release the water every day. But the mayor has been fixing different dates for the puja. He has no clue what he is doing,” she said.
Activist Manav Kamble, president of the Nagari Haqq Suraksha Samati, said,”The mayor is indulging in all kinds nautanki (antics). They are trying to play to the gallery at a time when residents are fighting for every drop of water”.
