Discussions on 3-month supply plan in Pune next week

PUNE: The civic body will hold a meeting with the state irrigation department next week to discuss the city's water supply plan for the next three months.
Anirudha Pavaskar, the head of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC)'s water supply department, said, "The meeting would be scheduled on Tuesday or Wednesday. We will discuss the city's water requirement for the next three to four months and the availability of water in dams. The demand for water goes up during summer. Hence, a plan is being chalked out considering it. We will put forth these issues before the officials of the irrigation department."
PMC officials said there was no immediate plan to impose water cuts in the city because of adequate stock in dams. But the civic administration would propose the irrigation department to reserve the water stock till August instead of July 15, in case of delay in the arrival of monsoon or dry spells at the beginning.
The collective water storage in four dams on Saturday was 12.8 TMC (44%), almost equivalent to the last year's stock in the corresponding period. According to the PMC's estimates, the city would require 7 TMC water till August.
Besides supplying water to the city, the state irrigation department releases water for summer crops. The rotation is expected to end in the next couple of weeks. An official from the irrigation department said another round of water release for crops had been scheduled, but a final call on it would be taken after assessing the water stock in dams around April-end.
"We will have to strike a balance between the water supply to the city and rural areas. We have urged the civic administration to use water judiciously," the official said.
The state government has asked the civic administration to prepare a plan for the water supply till the arrival of rains. A source from the administration said the instruction had been issued against the backdrop of the possibility of delay in the arrival of monsoon because of the El Nino factor.