PUNE: Water is a luxury in Lohegaon’s Khandvenagar, residents of which receive the supply from PMC every eighth day, that too for barely 45 minutes, leaving them largely at the mercy of private water tanker operators.
Sunil Khandve, a resident, said, “Every eighth day, we are forced to queue up near the central water tap in the area with vessels to fill water. So dire is the situation that all the family members, including children, are forced to queue up near the tap. But the collected water doesn’t last long.”
Lohegaon was brought under the PMC limits in 2017. Its residents, however, continue to grapple for basic amenities even now. Adding salt to their injuries is the lone water tank in the area, which has proved vastly inadequate to meet the requirement of the growing population in the Lohegaon and Wagholi areas.
Nilesh Khandve, another resident, said, “We have been reaching out to the civic authorities to update them about the water crisis in the area, but to no avail. Resultantly, we continue to shell out huge money on water tankers.”
The residents said there was an urgent need to find and implement temporary solutions to tide over the water woes in the area till the new tank was operational.
Sudhir Alurkar from the PMC water department said, “Water distribution occurs rotationally among more than 20 lanes, leading residents to line up with containers on the water supply day. Plans are underway to build a new 25 lakh litre capacity overhead water tank in the area, which will take around two years to complete.”
