Pune: The civic administration on Monday indicated that it will restart alternate-day water supply to the city from July 15 onwards. An all-party meeting chaired by mayor Manjusha Nagpure is expected in the next two days to review water stock in dams supplying to the city, possibly followed by a formal announcement of the schedule.Water cuts had been suspended in the city for six days till July 12, against the backdrop of the annual palkhi procession winding its way through town. Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) commissioner Naval Kishore Ram on Monday said, “Following heavy downpours last week, storage in the Khadakwasla circle dams has increased, but is yet to reach a comfortable level. Water cuts will have to be reintroduced till the stock records a further rise.”PMC is set to go ahead with the alternate-day water supply plan that was in play just before the suspension of cuts. Details of the same are expected to be declared officially in the next couple of days.However, residents and corporators alike want the civic administration to defer cuts for at least two more weeks to see if the dam catchments receive another spell of rain that pushes up their water levels.Hadapsar resident Arun Wadekar said, “PMC should supply water daily for at least a couple of hours instead of alternate-day supply, which hampers overall intake for the entire day. Low pressure in taps has also been a major challenge that officials have failed to address effectively.”Smita Joshi, a resident of the Satara Road area, said, “The administration should take strict action against illegal water use, wastage and misuse for purposes other than drinking. This will help PMC save more water and reduce the burden on citizens. Residents are already suffering a lot due to alternate-day supply. What we really need are solutions to lapses and effective implementation of existing systems.”On Monday, collective storage in dams of Khadakwasla circle was 16.9 TMC (58%). The inflow of water in all four reservoirs has dropped with reduced rainfall activity in catchments. None of the dams recorded any rainfall on Monday, stated the irrigation department’s report released on the same evening.Meanwhile, sources in the civic body said mayor Nagpure is expected to hold a meeting of leaders of various political parties in PMC in the next two days to review the overall situation of dam storage and the city’s water requirement. At present, PMC’s water supply department is reportedly also checking how much water usage has gone up in the last five to six days after it reintroduced daily supply to taps.Irrigation department officials also said that while water storage in dams has increased beyond the halfway mark after recent spells, there is still a long way to go. “Catchments will require at least a couple of long rain spells to lift water levels to 75-80% of capacity. The next one month is crucial. We are monitoring water levels and rainfall activity in catchments keenly,” an official said.Water cuts had been introduced by PMC from June 15 against the backdrop of a possible drop in overall rainfall due to the El Nino impact this year. Collective water storage in the city’s dams had dropped to as low as 4 TMC around mid-June.
