BJP has created artificial water scarcity, says Cong
Pune: City Congress leaders have criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for poor management of water. The party leaders have alleged that the BJP misused power and released water in the canal to help Baramati Lok Sabha candidate Kanchan Kul in the election and so the BJP is responsible for the city water problem.
Congress leaders conducted a press conference on Thursday. Congress Lok Sabha candidate Mohan Joshi, Congress City Unit Chief Ramesh Bagwe, senior leaders Abhay Chhajjed, Ramesh Iyer and Sanjay Balgude were present for it.
Recently, officials from Khadakwasla Irrigation Circle wrote a letter to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) appealing to them to use water carefully, or else the corporation will be solely responsible for water scarcity in the months of June and July. Mayor Mukta Tilak has also appealed to citizens to use water carefully.
On this background, Joshi alleged, “The BJP has created artificial water shortage. During the election period, water was released in the canal for Daund and Indapur areas. The decision was taken only to help the BJP candidate of Baramati Kul and BJP pressurised Khadakwasla Irrigation Circle officials to do the same. The BJP cheated Puneties.”
Bagwe said, “During the monsoon, all four dams were overfull. Despite that, Puneties are facing a water problem. Pune District Guardian Minister Girish Bapat is responsible for creating water shortage in the city. Bapat failed to manage water in the four dams. We will conduct an agitation if any water cut is announced.”
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the PMC called a meeting to discuss the water issue. However, Khadakwasla Irrigation Division sent a junior official to attend the meeting. Therefore, no substantial decision was taken during this meeting. The Irrigation officials said that the division will stop releasing water through the canal in the next week.
Water Supply Department Head VG Kulkarni said,”We have collected information from Khadakwasla Irrigation Division officials. At present, there are 6.04 Thousand Million Cubic feet (TMC). After the Irrigation Division stops supplying canal water, we will again review the water situation next week.”
Reasons for wastage
For maintenance and repair, the PMC closed water supply on Thursday. Thousands of litres of water were wasted during repairs of the 48 inches diameter of water pipe in Dattawadi area. PMC officials said, “We were changing the valve. At that time, some water was wasted. But this happens while carrying out repair work.” NCP MP Vandana Chavan and other civic activists wrote a letter to Municipal Commissioner Saurabh Rao and appealed to him to take precautions while carrying out maintenance work of water supply system.
