PUNE: PMRDA has granted building permissions to more than 200 projects after developers identified alternative water sources for areas beyond 5km of municipal limits.
The clearances were issued after builders committed to sourcing water from Pune Zilla Parishad and Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran. Both Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) had expressed their inability last month to supply water to areas beyond 5km of their jurisdiction.
“Each application underwent rigorous scrutiny of water source documentation before approval,” a senior Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) official told TOI. PMRDA has adopted a stringent approach to water source verification, with water scarcity issues affecting numerous projects in the area.
While applications for these areas were kept in a standby mode for a short period, permissions were granted later after the developers showed the water source. The affected area covers approximately 231 villages.
PMRDA officials said that they had reached out to both PMC and PCMC for water supply. “Even as they have expressed their inability, they are also bound by the rules of the urban development department and have to provide water. However, if they cannot, Pune Zilla Parishad and Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran or GSDA are bound to provide water solutions in these areas,” the official said.
In the letter, PMC informed PMRDA that it needs 24 TMC of water (which will rise to 26 TMC by 2037) to supply to Pune city, but has been sanctioned only 16.36 TMC water storage from Bhama-Askhed and Khadakwasla dams till 2032. The civic body said that it has to pay fines to obtain the additional water.
Currently, water schemes for five of 23 newly-merged villages are underway, but these will take two to three years to complete. The letter states that with an increased water quota, PMC cannot provide sufficient water to its areas, so it is not possible to supply water outside its limits. PCMC, too, stated that the civic body finds it difficult to provide water to its own people.
Hence, it is not possible to provide water to areas outside its jurisdiction. PCMC in its letter mentioned that its population has increased to approximately 35 lakh and the current stock of water is not adequate to fulfil the needs of all. The civic body supplies water on alternate days.
PMRDA and local bodies should work on implementing water supply schemes at their level, the letter by PCMC stated. The PMRDA commissioner had issued a circular early last month stating that corporations must provide water to villages within a 5 km radius from their boundaries as per government rules.
“These are umbrella bodies and the water supply will depend on availability. There is no clear-cut assurance on the total water supply that will be made available for these projects,” said Pankhi Upadhyay, a Bavdhan resident.
