Pune: The second day of alternate-day water supply on Tuesday proved what residents feared: Weak pressure and delayed restoration.Residents in areas that were cut off on Monday under the new plan said they were expecting a strong and timely water supply on Tuesday morning. Instead, many were met with weak pressure and long hours of waiting, stoking anxiety and frustration.
“We have to fill every small and large vessel in the house to store drinking water,” said Heera Sasane of Mangalwar Peth. “When water is supplied on our turn, the pressure is extremely low the next time, so we are forced to store water in all available utensils,” she said
In parts of Shivajinagar, the situation was particularly grim. The residents said water failed to reach their taps till the afternoon, despite assurances that supply would resume in the morning hours. “For the entire Monday, we had no water due to the alternate-day supply system. Naturally, people were expecting full-pressure supply on Tuesday morning. But what we received in the morning slot was nowhere close to what was promised,” resident Dinesh Paigude said.
Pune residents are struggling with the Pune Municipal Corporation’s alternate-day water supply, with the Peth areas among the worst affected. Many households are storing water in every available container because supply is infrequent and water pressure is low
Another resident, Rajaram Ubhe, said the low-pressure supply continued well into the afternoon. “People are already under stress due to the odd-even supply schedule. Delays in restoration only add to the panic,” he said, urging Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to streamline water distribution.
Household utensils, buckets and water-filled containers are lined up beside a public tap in Bhavani Peth as residents store as much water as possible under the city’s alternate-day water supply schedule
Shivajinagar was not the only area affected. Parts of Kothrud and Karvenagar also reported low pressure and delayed water supply on Tuesday, causing significant hardship for residents. Vikas Dalvi, a resident of Satara Road, said the issue was not new. “PMC has been struggling to restore water supply efficiently after every shutdown. The same problem is now surfacing under the alternate-day supply plan. If not addressed quickly, more areas are likely to face similar issues in the coming days,” he said.
Kasba Peth residents said the low-pressure supply required families to spend significant time collecting and storing water around work schedules
PMC officials acknowledged the challenges, saying areas like Shivajinagar and parts of Karvenagar — located at the tail-end of the water distribution network — were more vulnerable to low pressure and delayed supply.An official from PMC’s water supply department said, “Multiple technical issues were tackled on Tuesday. Air-locking was seen at several locations, and a main water supply line at Baner-Balewadi developed a problem. Pumping was increased in certain pockets to improve pressure. Since this was effectively the first operational day, we had to adopt a trial-and-error approach.”To prevent further disruptions, PMC has deployed additional teams across all zones to identify malfunctioning distribution lines and airlocks. The officials said extra water tankers would be pressed into service in areas facing acute shortages.PMC water supply department head Nandkishor Jagtap, however, said the situation was under control. “Some areas did face supply-related issues, which we had anticipated. But, there were no major discrepancies. The alternate-day water supply plan is expected to stabilise over the next few days,” he said.Meanwhile, the residents now fear fleecing by water tanker operators and want PMC’s intervention to keep tab on the operators. “The monitoring should be increased on both private and PMC-run tankers,” a resident said.Pipeline work in Vishrantwadi tomorrowDaylong water closure will be implemented in the Vishrantwadi areas on Thursday to assist pipeline work. Resultantly, all the nearby areas are expected to receive water on June 17 and 19 without water closure, the PMC’s water supply department said on Tuesday.
