The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has revised its water-supply undertaking for developers in 32 merged villages, requiring builders to provide and pay for water for new buildings for at least three years after occupation or until the civic body begins its own supply, whichever is later.
The decision is intended to prevent housing societies from inheriting the cost of arranging private tankers in areas that have been brought within PMC limits but do not yet receive regular civic water. Under the revised conditions, developers will remain responsible for arranging water through borewells, tankers and temporary storage tanks during the transition period.
The requirement applies through key stages of the development process, including building permission, the completion certificate and the occupancy certificate. Developers must also disclose existing water-supply arrangements and their continuing obligations in sale deeds, allotment letters and society registration documents.
The revised undertaking changes an earlier arrangement introduced in 2026. Under that system, developers could transfer responsibility to housing societies after the societies were formed and commercial units began operations. Residents in several newly developed areas were consequently left dependent on private tankers, with societies reportedly spending lakhs of rupees to maintain supplies.
The new conditions make the developer responsible for meeting the water requirement of new buildings until the specified period ends or PMC supply becomes available. The obligation will continue even if a project is transferred to another owner, preventing responsibility from being removed through a change in project ownership.
Water arranged through tankers and borewells will have to undergo periodic laboratory testing. This places a quality-control requirement alongside the obligation to ensure availability, although the supplied report does not specify the testing frequency, laboratories to be used or the standards that will be applied.
The PMC has also provided for enforcement action in cases of non-compliance. Possible measures include fines, suspension of permissions, restrictions on fresh approvals and further action in serious cases. The conditions therefore link water provision not only to occupation but also to the future approval status of developers.
The revised rule addresses a structural gap created when villages are merged into a municipal corporation before civic networks are extended to all newly urbanised areas. Residents may formally fall within PMC jurisdiction while continuing to depend on private infrastructure and informal or temporary supply arrangements. The new undertaking shifts the interim financial burden back to project promoters rather than individual housing societies.
The immediate implementation will depend on how the PMC records developer commitments, verifies water arrangements and enforces the conditions during approval and occupancy processes. Developers in the 32 merged villages will remain bound by the undertaking until PMC supply begins or the three-year post-occupation period, whichever is later.
