Pune Municipal Corporation has made developers responsible for arranging water for residents of housing projects in the 32 villages newly included in its limits until regular civic supply begins, with the obligation lasting for at least three years where municipal water is not yet available.
The revised undertaking approved by the municipal commissioner must be submitted with building permission proposals, city engineer Aniruddha Pawaskar said, according to a report by Pudhari. The change comes after rising complaints from residents of the newly merged villages about inadequate or unavailable water supply.
Under the revised conditions, developers must arrange alternative water sources such as borewells, tankers or temporary storage tanks. They must also maintain these arrangements and bear the associated costs until the Pune Municipal Corporation starts providing regular water or three years have passed, whichever is later.
The undertaking will remain applicable at multiple stages of the project, including building permission, the completion certificate and the occupancy certificate. This extends the water-supply responsibility beyond the initial construction approval and links it to the project’s formal completion and occupation process.
The municipal administration revised the undertaking after identifying shortcomings in the earlier format that made it difficult to clearly establish a developer’s responsibility. The new conditions are intended to specify who must provide water while civic infrastructure in the merged villages remains incomplete.
Developers will also have to disclose the current water-supply position and their responsibility in sale deeds, allotment letters and documents related to the registration of cooperative housing societies. This requirement is intended to ensure that buyers and housing societies receive information about the availability of municipal water and the interim arrangements being provided.
Water supplied through tankers or borewells will have to be tested periodically. Developers must ensure that the water is suitable for use before supplying it to residents. The revised undertaking also places responsibility on developers for the upkeep of temporary water infrastructure, rather than leaving residents to manage the arrangements after possession.
The municipal corporation has warned that violations could lead to penalties, suspension of permissions, a halt on new approvals and, in serious cases, criminal action. The civic body has also directed that a list of approval proposals involving the concerned developers be published on its website and updated periodically.
The decision highlights the administrative challenge created when rapidly developing peripheral villages are brought within a municipal boundary before civic networks are fully extended. For residents, the immediate issue is access to water; for developers, the revised undertaking makes water availability a continuing compliance requirement tied to the project approval process.
The Pune Municipal Corporation’s next stated step is to publish and periodically update the list of relevant approved proposals on its website, while the revised undertaking will apply to new building permission submissions in the 32 villages.
