Pune: Residents of Hadapsar, Kharadi and some other areas in the city will have to wait till December for water supply boost.The work of laying water transmission lines and commissioning overhead water storage tanks under Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC)’s equitable water supply project will drag on well beyond the civic administration’s May deadline in these pockets. Similar work of water pipelines and tanks have been completed in southern parts of the city.According to the PMC, three overhead storage tanks in the Hadapsar area are yet to be ready. Similarly, works of distribution lines and overhead tanks are pending in Kharadi and parts of Sangamwadi.Nandkishor Jagtap, the head of PMC’s water supply department, said of the 82 overhead tanks planned under the project, 68 are ready to supply water to the distribution network. “We are focusing on areas where work is pending. There is a plan to activate the zones to check the impact of works done so far. Next six months will be crucial in terms of finishing the work and monitoring the impact,” Jagtap said.Another official from the PMC’s water supply department said, “Works are getting over in phases. We are in the last stage of finishing crucial works of transmission lines in southern parts of the city. Over five lakh residents will benefit with the commissioning of 14 overhead tanks and the distribution network. Similar upgradation will happen in Hadapsar and other areas. Around 85% work of equitable water supply projects has been completed so far. The pending things will be finished in the next six months.”Pune mayor Manjusha Nagpure recently told the civic administration to finish maximum works of the project before monsoon.Hadapsar residents claimed that they were facing the problem of inadequate supply more in the summer. Delegations from various pockets of Hadapsar staged agitation demanding faster completion of water supply line works.Former corporator from the Hadapsar area Pramod Bhangire said the issue of inadequate water supply was getting severe day-by-day. The time had come to commission the overhead tanks in the area without delay, he said.Activist Prashant Susare from Hadapsar said five overhead tanks were proposed for the area under the equitable water supply project. He said the tanks were still not functioning at full capacity, causing immense problems to thousands of residents.Kharadi residents said the lack of overhead tanks was creating hurdles in maintaining water pressure in all the water supply zones.
