Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
Come 2026 and the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC) and the Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP) have set a target to provide daily water supply to the citizens. A quantity of 371 MLD of water will be lifted and transported to the city from January 2026. Hence the civic administration will be able to supply water to the citizens daily. Meanwhile, the planning has been made to install water-meters on each connection and a detailed project report (DPR) in this regard will be prepared soon. Hence the municipal commissioner has instructed water supply officials to appoint a private consultant to prepare the DPR.
It may be noted that 85 per cent work of the new water supply scheme, of valuing Rs 2740 crore, has been completed. The first phase of the scheme is expected to be completed by December 2025. Hence the city will get an additional 200 MLD quantity of water. The chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had also instructed to supply water to the citizens from the new year.
The CSMC claimed that presently it is getting 171 MLD of water through various pipelines (700 mm, 1400 mm and 900 mm). Hence the planning is underway to complete the construction of 30 elevated storage reservoirs (ESRs) in next few months to streamline the water supply.
Nearly 1,200 km of pipelines have been laid in areas that previously had no water supply. The new layouts in the Gunthewari area will also receive daily water. Currently, the municipal corporation charges Rs 2,500 as water tax. Once the project is completed, city residents will get water every day, with billing done through water metres. The corporation has already started preparations for this.
Water metre issue likely to spark controversy
Under the Smart City project, the corporation had earlier purchased 5,000 smart water metres, which remain unused. A new company will now be appointed to install fresh metres. This move is expected to draw criticism from citizens and political groups.
The process will involve tendering for metres, selecting metre types, software integration, billing procedures, and setting up a common control centre (CCC) for monitoring. A DPR will first be prepared for all these tasks as per the administrator’s instruction.