The Times of India            06.11.2013

Civic body told to finish work on STPs

PUNE: The state irrigation department has asked the civic body to complete its sewage treatment plants (STPs) and release recycled water for irrigation before seeking additional drinking water.

The irrigation department sets aside 11.5 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) water for Pune every year. However, according to the department, the city draws a total of over 14 TMC water from the Khadakwasla, Temghar, Varasgaon and Panshet reservoirs. The state government has repeatedly said that the quota is higher than the normal requirement, yet the city faces water shortage throughout the year because of distribution losses and water mismanagement by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).

In a letter to the PMC, the irrigation department has asked the corporation to treat at least 6.5 TMC water annually and release it for agricultural use, and only then stake its claim on a higher water quota.

"As of now, as per the deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar's orders, the irrigation department has agreed to provide the required quota of drinking water to the city. However, we have made it clear that if Pune continues to draw more than its share of water, irrigation in Pune rural area will be affected. The PMC has to complete sewage treatment projects and then officially claim additional water," said a senior state irrigation department official.

V G Kulkarni, head of the PMC's water department, said that the PMC's sewage treatment capacity would go up substantially by August 2014 once the infrastructure to recycle waste water was set up in Mundhwa. At present, the city generates 700 million litres sewage daily, but treats only 567 million litres a day. Over 6.5 TMC sewage water will be treated and released into the irrigation canals once the plant at Mundhwa becomes operational. He added that the PMC plans to release the treated water for non-drinking and agriculture purposes into the canal in Sade Satra Nali area on Pune-Solapur Road.

At present, the city has 10 STPs and the administration plans to set up 10 more for future needs. The sewage from these plants will be taken to the Mundhwa plant for treatment. Five new plants will come up at Warje, Wadgaon Budruk, Dhanori, Bopodi and Hadapsar, while five others will be built on the sites of the existing treatment plants.