PUNE: Alandi residents’ long wait for piped drinking water ended on Tuesday with supply from the Bhama Askhed dam commissioned by the Pune Municipal Corporation.
Households covering 10,000 of Alandi’s approximate population of 32,000 received water via taps. The project will cover the rest in phases.
The temple town, which draws a large number of pilgrims every day, used to be heavily dependent on tankers or bottled water.
A T-joint to facilitate a three-way distribution of water from the dam to Pune and Alandi was constructed at Kurule to ensure that the water reached Alandi.
“As against the town’s daily drinking water requirement of nearly 7 MLD, it will get 10 MLD per day from Bhama Askhed which is a huge relief,” chief officer Ankush Jadhav of Alandi Municipal Council said.
Jadhav said the council will now provide water with required pressure on an alternate days till the time they expand the tap water connection network. “We are also assessing areawise water requirements. Citizens will not have to rely on privately supplied water any more,” he added.
Lawyer and activist Vilas Kate said, “Citizens of the town had been suffering for two decades. The municipal council should pay heed to the water connections as most of them need repairs. Also, distribution should be equitable so that all citizens get adequate water in time.”
The state government had sanctioned Rs 5.5 crore for the underground pipeline work two years ago. Work started in April 2021 and was to finish within two months, but ran into opposition from farmers in some villages, AMC officials said.
“The government could have sanctioned funds for rejuvenation of natural sources of water in the town. It would have addressed the drinking water problems in the areas near the temple,” Prashant Gundre, another resident, said.
Last July, the irrigation department had told the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to pay double the charge for the use of water since it was drawing water from the dam more than the sanctioned quota.
The contract between the irrigation department and the PMC had finalised a quota of 11.5 TMC of water for the latter. Additionally, 2.6 TMC of water is given to the civic areas from Bhama Askhed. The civic body will have to pay Rs3 crore per year.
The PMC has laid a 42-km pipeline from the dam to meet the water needs of Ahmednagar Road areas of Kalas, Sangamwadi, Yerawada, Lohegaon, Dhanori, Kalyaninagar, Vadgaonsheri and Kharadi.
