A week after breach, water still in short supply to Ahmednagar Road areas

PUNE: Water supply to the eastern parts of the city has not returned to normalcy even after a week since the retaining wall of the Mutha right bank canal breached at Janata Vasahat on September 27 causing widespread flooding.
The civic administration’s water supply department on Thursday said the supply was normal in 85% areas of Pune’s eastern region;.The rest will receive adequate water in the next two days.

Areas where the water crisis played out include Ahmednagar Road, Hadapsar, Kondhwa, Mundhwa and adjacent areas. They receive water through supply to the Cantonment water works through the canal.
Officials from the water supply department said areas upstream of the canal were still waiting for adequate water. Some technical snags in the pipelines were causing interruptions in supply, they said.
“Supply was erratic in the last week because of the water closure announced by the PMC and almost no supply of water from the canal to the Cantonment water works because of the breach. The canal started releasing water only from Sunday at low pressure which increased gradually. On Thursday, once the water works received the maximum supply, we were able to normalize the supply in most parts,” an official said.
Many pipelines witnessed obstructions in the water flow since the pipelines were dry for almost four days and because of the air pockets inside the pipes. The on-duty staff initiated steps to clear these obstructions and the water flow will be regulated in two days, the official said.
Residents from the affected areas had a challenging week as daily supply was cut drastically. “There was inadequate water supply since last Thursday. Water supplied from Sunday was not distributed equitably. It led to a huge demand for tankers and subsequently a spike in the cost of water tankers,” Ajay Mohite, a resident of Wadgaonsheri, said.
The administration on Thursday said daily water supply to Cantonment water works has been around 350 MLD since Wednesday of which about 150 MLD water stock was being lifted from the Mutha canal.