Pune: Anger and anxiety are simmering in Janwadi Janata Vasahat and surrounding areas, where residents have complained of receiving muddy, discoloured water reeking of a foul smell over the past several days, raising serious health concerns.Frustrated with the supply issues, the residents on Tuesday marched to the local ward office and staged a protest, demanding a thorough inspection of sewage and water supply lines to determine whether sewage was seeping into drinking water due to leakages.Local leader Pravin Dongre, who joined the protest, said the problem had been festering not just in Janwadi, but across multiple parts of the city. “At several locations, drainage lines are completely choked. The dirty water has nowhere to go and is finding its way into potable water lines,” Dongre alleged. “The residents are receiving muddy water, sometimes in strange colours. I have personally received over 100 complaints, but this is clearly just the tip of the iceberg. Impure water supply has become a routine ordeal,” he said.The residents echoed the sentiment, saying the densely populated and congested nature of the area made it particularly vulnerable to such issues. “The civic authorities have inspected the area even before this latest episode, but nothing has changed on the ground,” resident Vijay Shinde said. “Temporary fixes won’t help anymore. Old drainage and water supply lines must be replaced entirely. Only then will these leakages, and the repeated contamination, stop,” Shinde said.Corporators also flagged the issue during the civic general body meeting in Feb. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC)’s water supply department admitted that at least 70 locations across the city had been identified where sewage could potentially be mixing with drinking water.Head of the water supply department, Nandkishor Jagtap, said repair and preventive measures were under way, though identifying exact leakage points remained a challenge. “We have now started using advanced camera technology to trace leakages in distribution lines,” he said, adding that tenders for repair works were expected to receive approval soon.
