Bombay High Court Takes Serious Note Of Water Supply Scarcity In Pune, Issues Notice To Government
Pune, 1st December 2022: The PIL (public interest litigation) regarding the water problem faced by the residents of urban areas of Pune District was heard by the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Abhay Ahuja at the Bombay High Court on 29th November.
The Bench went into the details of the PIL and in their directions, stated that the concern about the domestic use water supply of residents of Pune District is serious.
Advocate Satya Muley, while arguing on behalf of the Petitioners, brought to the notice of the High Court that the housing societies in Pune District, whether they are under Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), PCMC, PMRDA or Zilla Parishad, are now suffering from no or very deficient water supply. It was also pointed out that in neighbourhoods such as Baner, Balewadi, Wagholi, and Hinjewadi, the water problem is extremely serious, and housing societies do not get water supply from corporations even for 15 minutes a day. It was also mentioned that most of the housing societies in Pune District are therefore strongly under the grip of the tanker mafia.
Once again, it was argued on behalf of the residents of Pune that all the dams and reservoirs in the Pune District are full of water at 100% capacity, but the water does not reach the residents of Pune district through the water pipelines and taps of PMC and PCMC. It was also highlighted that the water, however, reaches through the private water tankers. The Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Abhay Ahuja took serious note of the water problem faced by the residents of urban areas of Pune District and passed directions that the State Government of Maharashtra, Pune Municipal Corporation, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, PMRDA and Zilla Parishad Pune to file their detail Affidavits latest by 13th December. Considering the severity of the water problem and the urgency involved, they have kept the PIL for further hearing with a fairly high priority on the High Court’s agenda of 15th December 2022.
Advocate Muley pointed out to the Chief Justice that the same subject was dealt with by the High Court in 2016 when the suburban areas of Baner and Balewadi faced severe water problems. At that time, the High Court had imposed a stay on granting permissions for new constructions in the Pune Municipal Corporation area.
Adv Muley pointed out that the Justices had also ordered the setting up of a committee in Pune District so that the residents suffering from water scarcity problems can approach the committee, and the committee can redress the grievance after taking note of the factual situation. This Committee was ordered to meet at least once in two months. The Committee was to consist of people involved in the redressal of the water problem faced by the residents of the affected areas. The Divisional Commissioner, Municipal Commissioner, and Chief City Engineer of the respective local body, in charge of water supply, along with the Member, Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority in Pune District, were directed to be a part of this committee. This Committee was ordered to submit their progress report to the High Court from time to time. It was also ordered that the formation and functioning of the committee should be widely publicised so that residents become aware and approach the committee regarding their water scarcity problem. Adv. Satya Muley said that no such publicity of such a committee has been done by the local bodies, and nobody knows if such a committee even was formed.
He requested that the Bombay High Court call for the records of the functioning of this committee and investigate its performance. The High Court was convinced and agreed. The High Court, therefore, has specifically ordered the State Government of Maharashtra to go into the details and appraise the Bench about the compliance related to the formation.
He also appraised the bench that the residents of the Pune district are now forced to fight for very basic subjects like water, roads, and open amenity spaces, which demonstrates the sorry state of civic affairs in the district. In some areas, the situation is so bad that due to incomplete or non-existent roads, or other limitations, even the water tankers are not able to supply water. As per the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, 135 litres per capita per day (lpcd) has been suggested as the benchmark for urban water supply. The situation is so bad that in several areas of Pune, residents are not getting even 20 litres of water supply per head per day. Advocate Satya Muley was assisted by Manasvi Sonawane in the PIL.
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