Agarwal vows to overhaul water network

The Mayor said that a similar meeting will be convened next week to deliberate over the issue in more detail. She announced that a committee, comprising representatives of all political parties and the civic officers, would be established next week to ensure implementation of the measures suggested at the meeting. The committee will meet every month and would present a review report to the Mayor.

While welcoming the idea of establishing a joint committee, Agarwal assured that the suggestions from the elected members would be honoured by the administration.

The civic chief said that the PMC would soon purchase leak detectors as suggested by former mayor Shantilal Suratwala. Addressing the meeting earlier, Suratwala had said that several water lines in the city had grown old and had developed leakages which could not be easily identified. He said that 35 per cent of the total water pumped from the Parvati and Cantonment water works to various water tanks in the city was being lost owing to seepage.

Agarwal also assured to tighten the security at all the overhead water tanks in Parvati zone. BJP leader Suhas Kulkarni had charged at the meeting that the slum-dwellers from Parvati pollute the tank water by dumping waste and plastic bags. On several occasions these plastic bags choke the tap water lines in downtown Kasba Peth, Kulkarni had said.

Leader of the house Chandrakant Chhajed brought to the notice of the administration that the water tank constructed by the PMC at Bopodi, by spending over Rs 80 lakh, had been rendered useless as it had developed leakages. The tank has not been put to use ever since its construction last year, he said demanding that administration should repair the tank.