Pune’s water supply could face greater pressure during the summer after the district canal committee reduced the city’s allocation by about 5 TMC, prompting a demand for a separate 13.2 TMC quota for the eight months from November 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027.
Shrinath Bhimale, chairperson of the Pune Municipal Corporation’s standing committee, has asked Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to direct the state Water Resources Department to exclude water released through canals and rivers during the monsoon from the city’s annual allocation. He has also sought a separate allocation for Pune for the November-to-June period.
The Pune district canal committee meeting was held on October 29 in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister and district guardian minister Sunetra Pawar. The meeting approved a 13.2 TMC water quota for Pune city, but there is confusion over the period for which the quota applies, according to Bhimale’s representation.
The request comes as Pune has already begun weekly water cuts. The municipal corporation started shutting water supply once a week about a month ago, following directions from the state government and the Water Resources Department. The civic body has also begun public awareness efforts focused on water conservation.
Bhimale said around 19 TMC of water had been released from the Khadakwasla dam chain through canals and rivers during the monsoon. Water was still being released through a canal for agricultural use when the representation was made. As a result, the water storage in the dam system had fallen to about 24 TMC, according to the report.
The allocation issue has direct implications for the city’s summer planning because Pune depends on the Khadakwasla reservoir system for its municipal supply. The representation argues that water released during the monsoon should not be counted against the city’s annual quota when the allocation for the remaining eight months is decided.
The report also links the demand to the broader water situation in the district. It states that rainfall this year has been disrupted by El Nino conditions, creating a drought-like situation. Bhimale has warned that the number of people moving to Pune after Diwali could rise because of drought conditions elsewhere in the state, potentially increasing the city’s water demand.
At the same time, the municipal corporation is preparing to bring nine sewage treatment plants under the Japan International Cooperation Agency-backed river improvement project into operation over the next two months. The report says the civic body plans to make around 6.5 TMC of treated water available for agricultural use through the Mundhwa jackwell project.
The proposed reuse arrangement is intended to reduce the pressure created by the diversion of treated water for non-potable purposes, but the immediate dispute remains the accounting and timing of Pune’s raw water allocation. The 13.2 TMC quota approved by the canal committee has not been clearly linked to a specific period, according to the representation.
Bhimale has asked the chief minister to issue directions for an independent 13 TMC allocation for Pune from November 2026 to June 2027, after excluding monsoon releases from the annual quota. The state government and the Water Resources Department are expected to determine how the city’s allocation will be administered for the remaining period.
