Meanwhile, Municipal Commissioner Mahesh Zagade said, in reply to a query on Wednesday, that he was unaware of elected representatives “having any interest in the private tanker business or taking advantage of their position to promote the business”.

Most of the private tankers are allegedly controlled by the corporators

A delegation of tanker service providers met Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale on Wednesday and voiced the demands. “We will stop the service if the civic administration fails to raise the rates,” said Balasaheb Gondhale who led the delegation.

He said there are 30 private tanker service providers and around 300 tankers in the city and they enjoy a profit margin of a mere Rs 100 per trip. “The rates fixed by the PMC are very low and it is difficult to run the business at such rates.”

He demanded that the civic administration should announce the revised rates by Thursday, failing which the providers will stop the service. The PMC had announced rates of Rs 600 a trip for 10,000-litre tankers, Rs 700 for 15,000-litre tankers and Rs 800 for 20,000-litre tankers.

The private operators pointed out that the total expenses for private water tankers are Rs 995 a trip and running the business at the rates fixed by the PMC is not profitable to them. “The private tankers can provide the service at Rs 600 per trip only if the refilling stations are at convenient places and water is easily accessible to them,” Gondhale said.

The private tankers are now taking water from select refilling stations. The municipal commissioner said he was yet to look into the demands of the private water tankers.

Earlier, the city unit of the MNS staged a protest at Parvati Water Works, alleging that the civic administration was supplying water to hotels and builders instead of common people. “The civic administration should stop the illegal business by private water tankers or we will intensify our protest,” MNS leader Ravindra Khedekar said.

Pmc to railway: No washing of rail coaches, save water

In the wake of an acute water scarcity leading to a 40 per cent cut, the Pune division of the Central Railways has been asked by the Pune Municipal Corporation to stop washing the coaches in order to save water. The railway authorities, in turn, have promptly begun following the order.

Railway officials said they had stopped washing the coaches and they were hiring water tankers and using their own bore wells to quench the thirst of passengers.

As rains gave Pune a miss in June — a condition that more or less persists even now, the Irrigation Department and the PMC had first imposed a 20 per cent water cut in the city and then increased it to 40 per cent.

Asked about how the railway administration is coping with the situation, M G Dhamangaonkar, additional divisional railway manager (ADRM) said, “It is true that like citizens, railways is also finding it tough to manage things with the cut water supply. We are hiring water tankers to procure additional water. We also have our own bore wells.

However, these additional measures are proving not to be enough and therefore, we have started saving as much water as possible.”

“We have stopped washing the coaches of trains that set out from here or end their journey here. We are filling only as much water in these trains as necessary for the use of passengers.”

“We have requested the other divisions to add more water when the train makes a halt at any of the stations in their jurisdiction,” he said.

PMC’s water supply chief Pramod Nirbhavne said, “The railways are asking for more water, but we are helpless. We have told them to make their own arrangements. We have asked them to stop washing the coaches so that it is not wasted.”

He said the PMC will appoint two inspectors to check whether this is being carried out properly.

Nitin Patil

Bore wells : Groundwater agency identifies 167 spots in city

The Groundwater Survey and Development Agency (GSDA) has identified 167 spots in the city, where new bore wells can be dug, in the past four days.

The initiative followed a meeting called by Guardian Minister Ajit Pawar on July 2, in which the GSDA was asked to identify spots for new bore wells. “We surveyed 220 sites, of which 167 sites have been identified as technically feasible,” said GSDA director Vikas Kharage.

The spots identified are in and around Shankar Maharaj Math, Gultekdi, Market Yard, Bibvewadi, Shelar Mala, Dinanath Mangeskar Hospital, Someshwar Mandir — Pashan, Baner Phata, Spicer College, Pune Station, Camp, Koregaon Park, Shivajinagar, Undri, Pisoli, Kharadi and Rasta Peth, among others. These are over and above the 399 dug wells and 4,820 bore wells already identified by the GSDA for the Pune Municipal Corporation. Of these, 155 dug wells and 1,575 bore wells are high-yielding.

The GSDA has been asked to identify five bore wells each in 144 wards. “In four days, we have completed almost 30 per cent of the work. We expect to survey the entire city in the next few days,” Kharage said.

Municipal Commissioner Mahesh Zagade, meanwhile, said the new sites identified by the GSDA will be the last option. “We have to be judicious in using groundwater. At present, we are preparing the groundwork required for the bore wells already identified.”

He said the city still has its reservoir water to fall back on. “We are also testing the potability of the high-yielding dug wells and bore wells identified by the GSDA.”

Kharade said this was an ideal time for housing societies to implement rainwater harvesting. “This should be undertaken simultaneously so that the scenario is not repeated every year.”

“They should engage the agency concerned and collect rainwater and divert it to the bore well, or they can dig a recharge pit and recharge the groundwater. Soceities can also build storage tanks for future use.”

Kharage said the societies can avail themselves of a discount in the PMC’s property tax if they implemented this measure, along with solid waste management and solar panel construction.