Stop wasting water, minister tells city

PUNE: State minister for rural development R R Patil on Thursday said irresponsible use of water in urban areas and industries should be checked as a long-term solution to combat scarcity and drought.
In an indirect reference to the excessive use of water in Pune and the fierce opposition to diverting 12 TMC water to drought-affected areas from the city, Patil asked why some people could not manage with 150 litres of water per head a day.
“In a city like New York, every person gets only 95 litres of water. Why can’t some people make do with 150 litres of water per head?� he wondered.
Patil was speaking at a function organised to hand over the Rs 2.01 lakh collected by the Pune Union of Working Journalists for the drought-affected areas in Pune to the Pune zilla parishad.
Minister of state for agriculture Dada Jadhavrao, Khed MP Ashok Mohol, ZP president Devram Lande and chief executive officer Rajendra Chavan were present. Referring to the Pune municipal corporation’s failure in treating and releasing 6 TMC water for irrigation, Patil pointed out that 1 TMC water could irrigate 10,000 acres of land and provide employment to 10,000 people.
The minister said rainwater should be harvested and used for sanitation, watering gardens and washing vehicles in cities.
Patil blamed the industry for ruthless and irresponsible exploitation water, failure in treating effluents and ruining rivers by releasing untreated effluents.
“The Patalganga belt in Raigad district has been ruined because of this,� he said. About the scarcity situation in the state, Patil said there had not been single day in the past 10 years when tanker had not been pressed into service in some part of the state. “ present, 1,624 tankers have been pressed into service to supply water to 5,130 villages and colonies. People in 27,000 colonies are not getting even 20 litres of water per head,� he remarked.
Khed MP Ashok Mohol urged Puneites to accept water cuts so that people in nearby villages could get drinking water.
“In fact, Puneites should pay more attention to conserving water than opposing water cuts,� he remarked.
Zilla parishad chief executive officer Rajendra Chavan said the PUWJ’s financial aid would utilised to fit wheels on wells to help draw water.
A part of the money would also be utilised for giving hydro-fracture treatment to 600 borewells that have gone dry in the district, he said.