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EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
PUNE, May 25: The indefinite strike of civic employees from 38 merged villages was called off on Tuesday evening after Municipal Commissioner Arun Bhatia held discussions with a delegation of the agitating staff.
Earlier, residents of the merged villages faced hardships on the second consecutive day on Tuesday as the baffled PMC administration struggled hard to deal with the crisis.
The civic administration had succeeded in providing water to residents of 30 villages by this morning. The ward offices were instructed to send extra staff at these villages. However, the water supply to eight villages could not be started till late in the afternoon.
Led by MLA Kumar Gosavi, the irate residents of Hingane Khurd village on Sinhagad Road finally resorted to breaking locks of the pump rooms and starting the pump sets on their own.
However, taps in many areas ran dry as neither the reinforcement brought in by the civic administration in these villages nor the residents knew the exact locations of the valves controlling the water supply.
Mischiefs by the agitating civic workers made it impossible for the civic administration to start water supply, said additional city engineer (Water Supply) V G Dhadphale.
The agitating staff had removed the starters of the pump sets at Dhayari and the civic staff from Wadgaon was whisked away in a jeep and released later, he alleged.
He said the PMC administration had succeeded in starting water supply at Narhe, Mohammedwadi, Sasane Nagar and Gondhale Nagar on Monday night. Water supply to Dhankawadi could not be started till this morning as the boosters were not working. Water supply to Katraj, Dhankawadi, Hingane Khurd, Wadgaon Buduk, Wadgaon Khurd and Dhayari could not be started till afternoon, he added.
Corporators call for action
The civic administration has decided to extend the deadline to pay the property tax till May 31 in the merged villages. The deadline was scheduled to end on Tuesday. Corporator Mahadeo Babar had pointed out in the general body meeting on Monday that many residents found themselves unable to pay the tax due to the strike.
The corporators raised the issue of strike by the civic employees in the merged villages at the meeting on Tuesday. While pointing out at the intensity of the crisis, Ujwal Keskar alleged that the administration has not handled the situation properly.
Ashok Yenpure demanded to know who was responsible for the delay in restoring the water supply. Vikas Mathkari sought to know what decisions the administration had taken to solve various problems of the merged villages.
Mandakini Khule alleged that the water being supplied to Khulewadi near Lohegaon and Chandan Nagar areas smelled of patrol and that some residents had taken ill after drinking it.
Additional Commissioner Deepak Kapoor told the meeting that the administration would take decision about the salaries of the agitating civic workers within a couple of days.
He said some of the agitating workers were employed by the grampanchayats on fixed salaries while some were on the pay scales of grampanchayat. The PMC does not have system of paying fixed salaries and the administration is facing problems in fixing the pay scales of these employees, he added.
He also assured that the specimen of the water being supplied to Khulewadi and Chandan Nagar areas would be sent to laboratories for chemical analysis.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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