Pune Villages to Get Permanent Water Solutions Ahead of Shortage
- Collector directs officials to speed up water conservation and supply projects
Pune : Pune district authorities have been directed to accelerate permanent measures to tackle the possibility of water scarcity in rural areas and reduce dependence on tankers, district collector Jitendra Dudi said on Thursday.
Dudi issued the directions during a meeting of the District Water and Sanitation Mission Committee, where officials reviewed the progress of schemes being implemented under the Jal Jeevan Mission, Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP) and Swachh Bharat Mission.
Officials were asked to undertake advance planning in villages that could face water shortages and ensure that tanker supply does not become the primary solution. Strengthening existing water sources, deepening and widening streams, carrying out water conservation works and managing available water stocks were among the measures discussed at the meeting.
Dudi directed officials to immediately commission water supply schemes where more than 75% of the work has already been completed. He also stressed the need to prioritise permanent and sustainable water supply systems instead of relying on temporary measures such as tankers.
Villages identified as potentially requiring tanker supply should be given priority for completing pending water supply projects, he said, directing officials to complete such works on a war footing.
Amit Patharwat, member secretary of the District Water and Sanitation Mission and executive engineer with the Zilla Parishad’s Rural Water Supply Department, directed departments concerned to coordinate closely and remove bottlenecks affecting project implementation.
He also stressed timely and planned utilisation of funds allocated for the schemes to ensure effective implementation.
Officials from the Zilla Parishad, Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran, Groundwater Surveys and Development Agency, Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited, District Water and Sanitation Mission cell and Rural Water Supply Department attended the meeting.
