Pune mayor Manjusha Nagpure
During a review meeting chaired by district collector Jitendra Dudi a few weeks back, the department had proposed a 25% reduction through alternate-day water supply. More recently, it decided to allocate only 11.3 TMC of water to Pune for the current year, despite PMC demanding 21.3 TMC. “The dams collectively hold 24 TMC of live water stock. The city should get at least 16 TMC water for the remaining year,” she said.
Nagpure also said the all-party meeting scheduled for Wednesday to discuss the city’s water situation had been postponed and would now be held after the canal committee meeting. PMC officials said this was not the first time the irrigation department had sought sharper cuts in the city’s water supply. “Instead of providing more water, the irrigation department has reduced the city’s water availability by 5 TMC this year, which is unacceptable,” an official said. On the reduced allocation, Nagpure said the city’s share should be revised upwards. Officials from the PMC water supply department said the irrigation department’s calculations regarding water reservation for Pune would be examined in detail during the canal committee meeting.
PMC will reiterate its demand for adequate water allocation to ensure uninterrupted supply through the summer months.
The canal committee meeting will be chaired by deputy CM and Pune guardian minister Sunetra Pawar. MLAs from both urban and rural constituencies, along with stakeholders dependent on reservoirs in the Khadakwasla circle, are expected to participate. Pune: Mayor Manjusha Nagpure on Tuesday directed the civic administration not to impose any additional water cuts beyond the existing once-a-week Thursday shutdown till the Khadakwasla canal committee meeting, expected later this week.