Heated debates on the effectiveness of the Smart Cit ies Mission to make Pune the most livable place in the country do not concern the Fernandez family of NIBM Road.Water worries do.
“Let us fix this issue first and then we can dream big,“ is the view of every member.They have a valid reason. For, water determines the daily schedule of the family , living in Kwality Sapphire Housing Society.
After Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) implemented the alternate day water supply four months ago following poor monsoon, storing every drop has become their greatest concern. Reason: Odd timing and erratic water supply .
“We get water between 9.30am and 11.30am every alternate day. Our society of 24 families is terribly short of water. There is no other option than to store whatever trickles in from PMC and then rely on tankers,“ senior citizen Vernon Fernandez said.
Every family in his society wants to install in-house overhead tanks to enhance the storage capacity. Most are done with the job. The rest would accomplish the mission soon.
The society buys 20,000 litres of water daily from a local tanker owner at a cost of Rs 1,300. To pay the tanker bills, the society has permitted a private telecom company to erect a cellphone tower. The rent goes to the tanker owner.
Across the road, some big societies are spending about Rs 10,000 daily for water tankers. No prizes for guessing who is running the tanker business here.He is a relative of a corporator.
The picture is no different elsewhere. “The situation is worse in our locality ,“ Sugat Bengale of Vimannagar said.
“We get water for an hour every alternate day . The PMC water does not reach many localities and societies are buying 8,000-litre tanker water for Rs 1,200-1,500,“ he said.
Despite paying a heavy sum for tanker water, nobody is sure where the water is coming from. “Our society does not have separate tanks to store the PMC and the tanker water. So, the tanker water gets mixed with the PMC water. We don’t know if the water provided by the tankers is safe to drink. Often, the water tastes sour,“ says SheetalJadhav .
Tanker owners are not ready to take any responsibility .“We make it clear that we cannot assure the quality of water.We warn that tanker water is not for drinking,“ said Y L Shivarkar, the proprietor of Shivarkar Water Supply Agency .
A majority of the tanker owners fetch water from wells or bore wells and there is no mechanism to check the quality. Also, this water does not go through any purifying process.
If that is not alarming enough, take this: About 75% of these water reserves are contaminated, says a study conducted by Gomukh Trust.
Medical practitioner Vish was Yevle says that contaminated water might be harmful, especially to children. “We have polluted our rivers and also the groundwater. We are going through a disastrous phase where we don’t realize what we are doing to the health of our citizens,“ he said.
TANKER BOOM
A vailable in abundance in the city till a few decades ago, water has turned pricey . It has become a commodity . Yet, nobody is bothered about saving this priceless natural resource and its economical use.
Several litres of water flow down the drain when every drop needs to be saved. Many people don’t even compromise on washing cars or floors in times of crisis.
Elected members have found an instant `solution’ -if you feel to call it so -tankers.
Many corporators and politicians have invested heavily in water tankers.
Some corporators, who won the civic polls by drumming up the water scarcity issue, have also joined the business. Many of them have private wells and bore wells to run their tanker business.
Little wonder, the tanker lobby never becomes the focus of the PMC general body meetings, which often see heated debates on who to invite as the chief guest to inaugurate a garden.Activists say that leaders and civic administration are not interested in resolving the water issue by rationalising the supply, detecting leakages, imposing water audits, implementing the metered water scheme and cracking down on water theft.
“It is quite clear that there is a nexus between civic officials and politicians. They have a huge stake in the water tanker business.As water has become a commodity, a new water economy has emerged in the city . As the water crisis will escalate, this business will boom,“ Vijay Kumbhar, a member of Surajya Sangharsh Samiti, said.
YOUR CALL, PMC
The civic body has remained idle in the crisis.
The PMC’s Environment Status Report highlighted negligence towards ensuring an efficient water supply system.“The old water supply lines have rusted and require repair.“
observed the report. The ESR stated that PMC had no maps of the old pipeline network, making it difficult to carry out repair works. It observed that 12% of the water wastage was because of problems in the distribution system.
The civic body has done nothing to plug this wastage.
In the year of severe water crisis, politicians are selling ideas of new dams and drawing water from other dams.
Parineeta Dandekar of South Asia Network on Dams, River and People (SANDRP), snapped the ideas. “It is entirely unjustified, immoral and unacceptable for a city like Pune, which has not worked seriously on any of the options for reducing wastage and reusing its water, to simply ask for a new dam or more water. Instead of asking for more water, PMC should come out with a white paper on the water status. Let us know what is happening to every single drop of water. Then we can ask for more water and alternative solutions,“ she said.
Till the information is public, the onus is on every Puneite. Pledge to save every drop.
Source : TOI
