Pune Municipal Corporation restarts water project tender

In 2021, the state government decided to merge 23 villages with the PMC, adding to the 17 villages that had already come under its jurisdiction in 2017. These mergers have increased the city's population to over 50 lakh. However, residents of the merged villages have complained about the PMC's failure to provide basic facilities such as drinking water, sewage systems, and roads, with most of these villages relying on water tankers for their water supply.

Last year, the PMC awarded a contract worth Rs1,300 crore to a company from Madhya Pradesh for the design, execution, and operation and maintenance of the project. The contract included a four-year period for the design and execution phase, followed by five years of operation and maintenance. Unfortunately, the contractor only managed to prepare a detailed project report for five out of the 34 villages: Bavdhan, Sus, Mhalunge, Lohegaon, and Wagholi.

Aniruddha Pawaskar, the chief superintendent engineer of the PMC water supply department, stated, "The previous contractor did not fulfill our terms and conditions. We have therefore initiated a new tender process for the project."

To meet the water demand of the 34 merged villages over a 30-year plan, the PMC requires 10 thousand million per cubic feet (TMC) of water. The PMC has requested 5 TMC of water from Mulshi dam and is currently awaiting a response from the state water resource department. In the meantime, they are managing to provide water from the existing quota, according to an anonymous water supply department official.

Prasana Joshi, the executive engineer of the water supply department, mentioned that tenders have been floated for laying pipelines and constructing water tanks in Bavdhan, Sus, and Mahalunge, with an estimated cost of Rs110 crore. Additionally, cost estimates have been prepared for the Lohegaon and Wagholi areas. The previous contractor has not been paid and has been asked to submit all reports and work completed thus far.