Pune may face weekly water cuts from October 16 after the Maharashtra Government directed civic bodies and gram panchayats to reduce water supply by at least 10 per cent, with the Pune Municipal Corporation awaiting written instructions before taking a final decision.
Nandkishor Jagtap, in-charge of the Pune civic water supply department, said the civic administration had prepared a plan for weekly cuts to ensure that available reserves last until the next monsoon in July. He said the plan would be considered only after the PMC receives formal communication from the state government.
“To ensure that the available water lasts till the start of next monsoon in July next year, the Pune civic administration has prepared itself for water cuts from October 16. If there is a water cut once a week, then there will be no scarcity during summer,” Jagtap said, according to The Indian Express.
The proposed reduction comes after the state government declared drought in several parts of Maharashtra, including Pune district, and asked local authorities to use available water judiciously. The order follows concerns over dwindling reserves, drought-like conditions and the risk of prolonged water stress linked to El Niño.
Pune city is supplied by the Khadakwasla, Panshet, Varasgaon and Temghar dams. The four reservoirs are currently filled to capacity, but the water is also expected to meet the requirements of drought-affected talukas in Pune district. This creates a supply-management challenge for the civic administration even though the reservoirs supplying the city have substantial stored water.
The PMC has requested the Water Resource Department to reserve 21.34 TMC of water for the city’s requirements until the next monsoon. The civic body has also pointed to the expansion of its service area and population. Eleven villages were merged with the PMC in 2017 and another 23 in 2021, increasing the number of residents and settlements dependent on the municipal water network.
A final decision has not yet been taken. Jagtap said PMC administrator Naval Kishore Ram, Mayor Manjusha Nagpure and other senior officers were not in the city, and that the situation would be reviewed before the water management plan was implemented. The civic administration is expected to discuss the plan after receiving the state government’s written communication.
The PMC had introduced water restrictions from June 15 as a precaution against a possible rainfall shortfall associated with El Niño. Those restrictions were temporarily lifted until July 14 to ensure adequate water availability during the Ashadhi Wari Palkhi processions. Heavy rain in Pune and its catchment areas subsequently raised water levels in the five reservoirs supplying the city to nearly 55 per cent, according to the report.
The proposed weekly cut would therefore represent a new phase in Pune’s water management: not an immediate response to empty reservoirs, but an administrative measure intended to extend supplies across the city and drought-affected parts of the district. The next step is the PMC’s review of the state directive and its decision on whether and how the weekly schedule will be implemented.
