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Building Pune: PMC draws up Rs 230 crore plan to end water woes of Lohegaon, Wagholi | Pune News
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has come up with a Rs 230 crore solution to end the water woes of Lohegaon and Wagholi villages which were recently merged with the civic body. The solution envisages creating new infrastructure, revamping the existing water supply system of the area and seeking additional water from the state government by drawing water from the Bhama Askhed dam.
“The PMC has recently approved the detailed project report (DPR) for a water supply system for Wagholi and Lohegaon,” Municipal Commissioner Vikram Kumar said. He pointed out that in 2022, the population of Lohegaon was 1,12,714 and Wagholi was 1,74,183. The total population of 2,86,897 needs 56.29 MLD (million litres per day) of water, he added.
“In the DPR, the planning for the two areas is done estimating the population growth to 2,32,155 in Lohegaon and 3,39,282 in Wagholi in 2052. The estimated population of both the areas is 5,71,437 which would require 112 MLD water to meet the needs of citizens. Accordingly, the PMC has sought 1.45 TMC [thousand million cubic feet] water for the area from the state government,” Kumar explained.
The plan is to ensure equitable and sufficient water supply for citizens of the area for which 12 water tanks in Lohegaon and 11 water tanks in Wagholi are proposed in the DPR. Five tanks already exist in Lohegaon so only seven new tanks have to be constructed. Wagholi also has five tanks and needs six more. The estimated cost to construct 12 new water tanks is Rs 54 crore.
The PMC estimates that the revamping of water pipelines by replacing the old ones will cost Rs 176 crore. It is also proposed to lay a pipeline network of around 500 km of pipes of different sizes to draw water and supply in the area.
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“The implementation of the project will take two-and-a-half years. Thus, the budgetary provision for the implementation of the project should be made in the next three years,” Kumar said.
Meanwhile, the PMC administration has proposed to appoint PriMove Infrastructure Development Consultants as project management consultants for the implementation of the equitable water supply system in the 34 newly merged villages in PMC, including Lohegaon and Wagholi.
“There is a serious issue of water shortage in Lohegaon and Wagholi with residents forced to buy water from private water tankers. The issue was raised with all concerned authorities and we hope the new plan is implemented fast to end the water woes of the area,” said Shyam Daundkar, a resident. Despite paying taxes to the civic body, residents in these areas have to spend a lot of money on water tanker services, he added.