PMC's failure to monitor water tanker movements fuels concerns

Recently, water sourced from STP was supplied as drinking water in Kharadi society

- Abhay Khairnar

PUNE: Following a recent incident wherein water sourced from a sewage treatment plant (STP) was found to have been supplied as 'drinking water' to the upscale Nyati Elysia Housing Society in Kharadi, the issue of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) lacking a water tanker monitoring mechanism has once again come to the fore. This, despite the civic body mandating the installation of GPS systems in water tankers.

It is shocking that a private water tanker vendor supplied STP water to the housing society in Kharadi but it is also true that several residents and housing societies in Pune are left with no option but to rely on private water tankers as the city's rapid growth has out-paced the PMC's ability to provide adequate water supply. Civic activist Vivek Velankar said, "Due to the PMC's failure to ensure sufficient water supply, many citizens are forced to purchase water from tankers. However, these tankers often do not deliver water to the designated places, instead selling it to construction sites or other buyers. A few years ago, we pressured the PMC to make GPS installation mandatory for all water tankers so that their movements could be monitored."