Pune: Developers of group housing projects in Pune Metropolitan Region will now have to establish access to an assured water supply to secure building permissions and occupancy certificates, under revised norms issued by PMRDA.The recent circular, issued by Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) commissioner Abhijit Chaudhari, replaces an earlier directive dated Sept 2, 2024, and takes immediate effect, PMRDA officials told TOI.Under the revised norms, developers must obtain a certificate from a competent public authority confirming that water will be available for the proposed project’s requirements. “Earlier, it was just a mere water affidavit. This has changed with this circular,” said a PMRDA officer. Depending on the source of supply, the certificate can be issued by the zilla parishad or Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran under a regional water supply scheme, MIDC, Pune or Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporations, a nearby municipal council, a nagar panchayat, or the water resources department, he said.Projects that cannot furnish such a certificate but have a well or borewell on the premises must obtain a water availability certificate from Groundwater Surveys and Development Agency (GSDA), the official added.Planning department officials can recommend approval only after the assistant metropolitan planner or planning assistant certifies that the available water is sufficient under Regulation 12.5 of Unified Development Control and Promotion Regulations, 2020, which applies to PMRDA region. “Considering the water scarcity, this has been made stricter. It is being thoroughly checked by the department, and no plan is sanctioned unless checks are in place,” said the official.The revised norms also extend water availability requirements to residential layouts and other categories of development. For new or revised temporary residential layouts, as well as final or revised final layouts, applicants with a well, borewell, or another water source on the premises must submit an undertaking on water availability along with their proposals.A similar undertaking is required for building permissions and occupancy certificates for new bungalows, farmhouses, forest houses, resorts, hotels, canteens, cafeterias, and industrial or commercial establishments that have their own water source, a PMRDA official from the building permission department told TOI.The move follows numerous complaints from citizens about projects being cleared without adequate water supply, leaving residents entirely dependent on water tankers. In addition to these housing checks, PMRDA has mandated that resorts, hotels, canteens, cafeterias, and similar establishments install a reverse osmosis (RO) plant or another water purification system on their premises to use treated water, officials said.“The revised circular makes water availability a key consideration in processing development proposals across these categories, with planning staff required to verify compliance with applicable conditions before recommending approval,” an official said.
