Pune: State cabinet minister Uday Samant told the legislative council on Tuesday that the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation will disconnect water supply to housing societies that fail to operationalise their sewage treatment plants (STPs) despite repeated notices.Replying to a question raised by BJP MLC Uma Khapre, Samant said the PCMC had identified 126 housing societies where functional STPs are mandatory. A survey conducted by the civic body found that 62 societies had non-operational STPs, following which notices were issued.Of these, water supply to 26 societies has already been disconnected for failing to comply with the norms. Action against the remaining defaulting societies will be taken within the next two weeks if they fail to comply immediately, the minister said.“The municipal corporation will be asked to issue final notices to the remaining societies immediately. If they still fail to operationalise their STPs, their water connections will be disconnected within two weeks,” Samant said.Under environmental regulations, residential projects with a built-up area exceeding 20,000 sqm or having 100 or more flats are required to install and operate STPs. The treated water must be reused for non-potable purposes such as gardening and flushing.Earlier this year, PCMC launched a drive against non-compliant housing societies. While several societies were fined, water supply to others was disconnected after repeated notices. As per the civic body’s enforcement procedure, three notices are issued before penalties are imposed and, if violations continue, the corporation can disconnect water supply. Among those that faced action was the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA), whose STP was found to be non-functional during the survey.Housing society representatives, however, alleged that residents were being penalised for lapses committed by builders.Sanjeevan Sangale, president, Chikhali-Moshi Pimpri Chinchwad Cooperative Housing Societies Federation, said many developers obtained completion certificates despite failing to install functional STPs or providing substandard systems to residents.“The minister and the member who raised the issue should be informed that the fault lies with builders, not housing societies. In many projects, builders either did not hand over functional STPs to residents or installed systems that were of poor quality or below the required capacity. Even officials in PCMC’s environment department are aware of these issues,” Sangale said.He said it was the builder’s responsibility to install and hand over a functional STP before transferring the project to residents, yet completion certificates were issued despite violations.Sangale pointed out that the issue had also been raised in the state legislature last year, when a Pimpri Chinchwad MLA demanded that builders be made responsible for operating STPs for five years after handing over projects to ensure proper functioning.“At the time, the minister had assured that the demand would be examined. Instead of acting on that assurance, the govt is now directing PCMC to take action against housing societies. Residents have become easy targets, while errant builders and officials who cleared such projects are being protected,” he said.
