Water Crisis: Water Woes Worsen At National Swachh Bharat Award Recipient Roseland Residency In Pimple Saudagar
Roseland Society member’s meeting to discuss water crisis with Ex-Corporator Shatrughan Kate
Roseland Residency, one of the most prestigious and sustainable residential societies in Pune, is receiving insufficient water supply from the PCMC.
In 2017, residents rejoiced as Roseland Residency won the National Swachh Bharat Award and were bestowed with this accolade by the Prime Minister himself. This year the members of the society have found themselves in an arduous situation as they lament an acute shortage of water in their homes.
Chandan Chourasiya, member of the Roseland Residency, elaborated on the issue and said, “There are 850 registered members in the society with a total requirement of about 4 lakh 50 thousand litres of water per day, out of which we only receive 1 lakh 10 thousand litres from PCMC.”
A Stark Contrast
The residency was rewarded for its efficiency in recycling waste water as part of its sustainability drive only a few moons ago. Now, due to the unanticipated water crisis, it has to purchase water from private tankers. Even though the rain water harvesting system is still functional, borewells dry up rapidly due to the summer heat. As per Chourasiya, a substantial amount of money has been spent so far in purchasing water, with 5 lakhs being spent on water tankers in March alone.
Presently, the society purchases about 40-50 tankers on a daily basis. The PCMC supplies only 13% of the water that it is supposed to and the rest is sourced from private tankers. This is not only financially taxing but also causes a lot of disruption in the society as so many tankers enter the premises daily. Mr. Chourasiya urged PCMC to take appropriate measures to resolve the issue at hand.
The Way Ahead
Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation itself seems incognizant to the issue. The head of the water supply department, Shrikant Savane, refused to comment on the situation. However, things might start to look up for the members of Roseland Residency. In a meeting held yesterday with the former corporator of the area, Shatrughan Kate, possible solutions were discussed and implementation has begun.
“Shatrughan Kate has promised 2 things, one is to look into all the possible obstacles to the decreased water supply like blockages in the walls and layout; get them fixed. Another is to increase the number of water connections from the PCMC to 2”, added Chourasiya.
While giving his impression of the situation Kate discussed the problem in detail and echoed Chourasiya’s sentiments. He further specified that it will take a minimum of 8-10 days for the crisis to be resolved.
