While the rainy season has begun, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is likely to continue with the once-a-week water cuts every Thursday for the next few weeks as a precautionary measure, officials indicated on Wednesday. With the rain and water levels in catchment areas yet to pick up, the PMC administration will review the water stock in all four dams supplying water to Pune at a meeting scheduled on June 30 during which a decision regarding the water cuts is also expected.
A senior official from the PMC water supply department on condition of anonymity said, “Though the rains have started, it is too early to withdraw the water cuts in Pune. As precautionary measure, the PMC will possibly continue with the arrangement for the next few days. Later once the dams get sufficient stock, the administration will take a decision accordingly.”
With the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and Maharashtra government directing municipal corporations to use water judiciously in view of the El Nino effect, the PMC had introduced one-day water cuts every Thursday since May this year. Whereas now, weather experts have predicted rain activity to likely weaken in the first part of July before being reactivated.
Earlier, the PMC had announced that it would review the dam storage at the end of June before taking a decision. PMC water supply department head Aniruddha Pawaskar and municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar had both said recently that the water cuts would continue till the end of June after which the PMC would review the situation.
According to information shared by the state irrigation department, all four dams in the Khadakwasla cluster namely Khadakwasla, Panshet, Temghar and Warasgaon have a water stock of 4.5 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) as of Wednesday. This is 15.42% of the total water stock. On the corresponding day last year, all four dams had a water stock of 2.71 TMC which is 9.30%.
