Eight years on, construction work of overhead tanks for 24x7 water supply project yet to be completed
Only 25 out of the 82 tanks to be constructed for this project have been commissioned.
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The civic body claimed to have completed construction of 66 tanks but said 41 are not in use because of issues pertaining to supply lines.
According to civic officials, the land acquisition proved to be a taxing process, which caused delay in the project. "The civic administration is generating funds for the project. The funds will be used for building connecting lines between water tanks and taps of end users. The administration has planned to speed up the works," said Nandkishor Jagtap, the head of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC)'s water supply department.
The civic body will spend around Rs 280 crore on building these tanks. The capacity of the tanks ranges from 20 lakh litres to 40 lakh litres.
"The civic administration is not showing the will to complete the project in time. The project is aimed at providing 24x7 water to citizens. But the civic body has gone back on its promise and is promoting it as an equitable water supply project," said Vivek Velankar of Sajag Nagrik Manch, a citizens' group.
"Residents of merged areas are waiting for water for years. The water tanks have been built, but these are not able to provide water as allied infrastructure is absent. If the infrastructure is not built, the water tanks will go to waste," said Shrirang Chavan of Haveli Taluka Kriti Samiti, a citizens' group from merged areas.
Civic officials said that work of construction of 20 overhead tanks in 34 merged areas has been prioritized to resolve the problem of water scarcity.
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The water storage capacity of these added areas will increase by around 3.5 crore litres after the construction of these tanks. The tanks will be built in areas like Ambegaon, Bavdhan, Sus, Mahalunge, Jambhulwadi, Wagholi, and Lohegaon. Twenty amenity spaces have been identified for construction of these facilities.
A civic official said that construction of tanks is a major component of the project. About 700 of the 1,060-km distribution line has been laid, and the remaining work will begin in the next fiscal, an official said. Nearly 70% of the 3.14 lakh metre installations for residential use has been completed. The official said Rs 1,471 crore of the total project allocation of Rs 2,048 crore has been spent. Approximately 75% of the project has been completed.
The remaining portions will be finished by Dec 2025, they said. Of the planned 141 water metre zones in the city, 72 are slated to be operational. The remaining work will be completed by March 2026.
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