Will 200 MLD additional water reach city by December?

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The question of whether the city will actually start receiving an additional 200 MLD of water through the new water supply scheme project by the end of December was raised during a review meeting held on Monday under the chairmanship of the divisional commissioner. In response, officials from the Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP) and the contractor (GVPR) company gave an affirmative but cautious reply.

As per the High Court’s directive, a review meeting of the new water supply scheme project is conducted every 15 days under the chairmanship of the divisional commissioner to assess progress, identify obstacles, and coordinate with other government departments for support if needed.

Monday’s meeting was attended by divisional commissioner Jitendra Papalkar, district collector Deelip Swami, superintendent of police (SP) Dr Vinaykumar Rathod, MJP chief engineer Manisha Palande, municipal corporation administrator G Sreekanth, and project coordinators A B Deshmukh and K M Phalak, among others. During the meeting, participants inquired whether the target of supplying water to the city by December 31 could realistically be met. Both MJP officials and representatives from GVPR Company (the contractor) indicated that it was possible. The meeting also reviewed the remaining tasks necessary to complete the first phase of the project.

Lack of firm assurance

However, neither MJP nor GVPR officials gave a firm commitment that water would start flowing to the city by December 31. This raised concerns during the meeting that the deadline might be missed. Earlier, in June, the company had assured that several key components of the water project would be completed, but the meeting revealed that many of those works were still unfinished.

At Kaudgaon, the connection of a 2,500 mm diameter water pipeline remains pending. MJP has also not yet taken the required five-day shutdown needed to complete this task. The meeting included serious discussions on when this crucial work would be finished.

According to sources, even after the Kaudgaon connection is completed, the testing phase will take considerable time, making it unlikely that the December deadline will be met.