3 weeks Ago
1 2 Pune: The civic administration's water procurement cost from the Khadakwasla dam has soared more than three times over the past five financial years — from Rs 56 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 202 crore in 2024-25. Civic officials said the increased water procurement cost was in line with the revenue growth in view of the expansion of civic limits. Irrigation department officials said the increased expenditure included the penalty amount on Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) for lifting more water than its pre-decided annual quota of 11.
6 TMC from the Khadakwasla dam. "We have told PMC to pay pending dues, which include penalties for excess water use and release of untreated water into rivers, as well as annual bills. Some dues are pending for more than seven years," said a senior official of the irrigation department.
The PMC officials, however, said the irrigation department did not calculate water charges properly. "The irrigation department charged money according to industrial water usage rates, which is not appropriate," an official said. The irrigation department, in a quick retort, said the charges were levied based on the contract between the two agencies.
According to PMC data, the approved water quota for the civic body is around 16.6 TMC annually, including 11.6 TMC from the Khadakwasla dam, 0.
34 TMC from the Pavana dam and 2.67 TMC from Bhama Ashked. "The PMC also gets around 1.
75 TMC for the merged areas. However, PMC is lifting around 21 TMC of water, much higher than the approved quota," an irrigation department official said. The civic officials maintained that merger of more areas into the PMC limits contributed to additional water demand and consumption.
The irrigation department hiked the cost of water in 2022, after which PMC was told to 55 paise for each 1,000 litres lifted from dams for domestic purposes and Rs 11 for 1,000 litres for industrial use. "But, there is hardly any water consumption for industrial purposes at PMC level. PMC has given its demand to irrigation for reducing the bill," Prasanna Joshi, superintending engineer of PMC's water department, said.
GRAPHIC TIME TO RETHINK QUOTA? Period Annual charge 2020–21 Rs 56 crore 2021–22 Rs 66 crore 2022–23 Rs 103 crore 2023–24 Rs 198 crore 2024–25 Rs 202 crore ANNUAL QUOTA PMC is allowed to lift 16.6 TMC, including 11.6 TMC from the Khadakwasla dam, 0.
34 TMC from Pavana and 2.67 TMC from Bhama Ashked. It also gets around 1.
75 TMC for the merged areas ACTUAL QUANTUM Against the pre-decided annual water quota of 16.6 TMC, the civic body is lifting around 21 TMC Pune: The civic administration's water procurement cost from the Khadakwasla dam has soared more than three times over the past five financial years — from Rs 56 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 202 crore in 2024-25. Civic officials said the increased water procurement cost was in line with the revenue growth in view of the expansion of civic limits.
Irrigation department officials said the increased expenditure included the penalty amount on Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) for lifting more water than its pre-decided annual quota of 11.6 TMC from the Khadakwasla dam. "We have told PMC to pay pending dues, which include penalties for excess water use and release of untreated water into rivers, as well as annual bills.
Some dues are pending for more than seven years," said a senior official of the irrigation department. The PMC officials, however, said the irrigation department did not calculate water charges properly. "The irrigation department charged money according to industrial water usage rates, which is not appropriate," an official said.
The irrigation department, in a quick retort, said the charges were levied based on the contract between the two agencies. According to PMC data, the approved water quota for the civic body is around 16.6 TMC annually, including 11.
6 TMC from the Khadakwasla dam, 0.34 TMC from the Pavana dam and 2.67 TMC from Bhama Ashked.
"The PMC also gets around 1.75 TMC for the merged areas. However, PMC is lifting around 21 TMC of water, much higher than the approved quota," an irrigation department official said.
The civic officials maintained that merger of more areas into the PMC limits contributed to additional water demand and consumption. The irrigation department hiked the cost of water in 2022, after which PMC was told to 55 paise for each 1,000 litres lifted from dams for domestic purposes and Rs 11 for 1,000 litres for industrial use. "But, there is hardly any water consumption for industrial purposes at PMC level.
PMC has given its demand to irrigation for reducing the bill," Prasanna Joshi, superintending engineer of PMC's water department, said. GRAPHIC TIME TO RETHINK QUOTA? Period Annual charge 2020–21 Rs 56 crore 2021–22 Rs 66 crore 2022–23 Rs 103 crore 2023–24 Rs 198 crore 2024–25 Rs 202 crore ANNUAL QUOTA PMC is allowed to lift 16.6 TMC, including 11.
6 TMC from the Khadakwasla dam, 0.34 TMC from Pavana and 2.67 TMC from Bhama Ashked.
It also gets around 1.75 TMC for the merged areas ACTUAL QUANTUM Against the pre-decided annual water quota of 16.6 TMC, the civic body is lifting around 21 TMC.
