3 Cuts: water, electricity, tree and 1 Raise: corporator's spending limit - Pune news links

30% cuts may help to supply water till July 20:

The officials said that scanty rainfall in catchment areas had forced the department to impose 30% water cuts as a precautionary measure. The department releases 60 MCFT (million cubic feet) water daily, which has now been brought down to 50 MCFT. Also, the water levels in dams further depleted to 0.62 TMC (thousand million cubic) feet on Tuesday.

"The cut has been imposed as a precautionary measure. This would help us supply water to the city for five more days. This essentially means that now with the 30% water cut, we would be able to extend the supply of water till July 20 instead of July 15," said Avinash Surve, the superintending engineer of the Pune irrigation department. Read More

Mahesh Zagade, commissioner, PMC, on water:

Builders and developers will now have to ensure that a blueprint of use of water for construction as well as availability of water post-construction is submitted for the building plan to be sanctioned.

The PMC is also rethinking the policy of conditional permission to developers/builders who promise to make drinking water available once construction is complete and then pass the responsibility on to the civic body.

Zagade said the city should have a uniform water supply policy and every area should receive water with the same pressure.Read More

Bhama Askhed dam in Khed taluka - an option for water:

Drawing water from the Bhama Askhed dam in Khed taluka, about 40 kilometres from Pune, is one of the immediate options that the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has. The civic body has prepared a Rs 260 crore plan and has sought financial help from the state and central governments.

If the state irrigation department allows, the PMC hopes to draw around 200 MLD of water from the dam built over river Bhama. A high power committee of the irrigation department would be considering the PMC's request for drawing water.

If approved and successful, the water supply project will help in catering to the water requirements of Hadapsar, Chandannagar, Kharadi, Vadgaon Sheri, Vishrantwadi and Nagar road areas. Read More

Rain Water Harvesting - must for housing projects:

Ground water expert and social worker Mukund Ghare is of the opinion that the authorities ought to give a serious thought to conserving water by creating lakes. "The geographical location of the city and the surrounding hills are conducive for conserving water by creating lakes. New water conservation projects will help in fulfilling the water supply needs in various areas," he said.

Ghare added that rain water harvesting projects should be implemented in new housing projects that are coming up in fringe areas. Ghare, who is closely associated with the Association for Agricultural Renewal in Maharashtra (Afarm), also said that available water has to be used sparingly and that water leakages must be curbed under all circumstances.

Drawing water from the Bhama Askhed dam would only partially fulfil the city's water requirement. He observed that water can be brought to the city only if we use advanced construction technology. "However, it will take years for such options to become a reality," he said.TOI

Feeling nervous? Cheer up! Visualizes yourself in Rohan Mithila at Viman Nagar!!

Pimpri-Chinchwad has enough water to last 100 days:

While the failure of rains has left the PMC fretting over its water supplies, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation still has enough water in Pavana dam to meet the drinking water needs of its people for the next 100 days. The civic administration is not even contemplating a water cut in its limits.

The township is completely dependent on the Pavana dam, located near Dahiwade village in Maval taluka, for its drinking water needs. The irrigation department releases water from the dam into the Pavana river for townships' use. The PCMC has constructed a bund at Ravet village to store this water. The civic body currently lifts 350 MLDs water from the bund and treats it before supplying the same to its residents.

Various villages and towns located along the river are also dependent on the dam's water to meet their needs. Prominent among these towns are Talegaon and Dehu Road. The industrial areas of Pimpri-Chinchwad township and some areas of Dehu Road get water from Maharashtra Industries Development Corporation (MIDC), which also draws water from Pavana dam. Read More

Crack down on the illegal use of municipal water for construction activity and issue stop work notices:

The committee has asked all ward offices to conduct a survey in their respective wards and take action against illegal water connections. Stop work notices will be issued in case municipal water is being used for construction. Municipal officers have told the standing committee that they had asked developers to strictly use only borewell water for construction activity," said Nikam. Read More

Current zero load-shedding arrangement to continue in Pune:

The one month extension granted by the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (Merc) for the zero-load shedding model may have ended on Tuesday, but Puneites need not fear the return of full-scale load shedding.

Till such time as Merc gives its verdict on MSEDCL's petition, the current arrangement of securing power through interim franchisee Tata Power to prevent load-shedding will continue. In case the franchisee is unable to secure full quota of required power, proportionate load-shedding will be enforced as is the current practice. Read More

Does Pune Tree Authority meet only to discuss tree cuttings?

Although the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Preservation for Trees Act, 1975, mandates that a Tree Authority committee meeting be held once every month and not beyond 45 days, the Pune Tree Authority has violated this rule. It has not had a meeting in the last 45 days.

Members of the PTA are upset, since the civic administration has not scheduled a meeting in a long time and important matters need to be discussed. Read More

Ward work limit raised to Rs 5 lakh:

The PMC standing committee on Tuesday approved a proposal to raise the limits of maximum ward-level funds from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for a single work.

Corporators get funds of about Rs 20 lakh for ward-level development works every year. However, the state government and the PMC had mandated that the corporator could only use a maximum of Rs 2 lakh for a single work. Now, with the standing committee's approval, corporators can carry out development works costing up to Rs 5 lakh. Read More

Subscribe for Free!

To receive free emails or free RSS feeds, please, subscribe to Ravi Karandeekar's Pune Real Estate Market News Blog

For my blogs on real estate projects near Hinjewadi, real estate investment, advertising and other related topics, please, visit and join my Ravi Karandeekar's Pune Real Estate Blog Group