Pune: The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has decided to utilise Rs550 crore from its general fixed deposit (FD) reserves to fund critical water supply projects, abandoning an earlier proposal to raise loans.The standing committee approved the decision on Wednesday; it will now be placed before the general body for final sanction.The funds are earmarked for long-pending water pipeline projects linked to the Andra and Pavana dams. Civic officials believe these works are essential to improving the city’s distribution network and ending the current alternate-day water supply in several neighborhoods.Standing committee chairman Abhishek Barne defended the move, stating the civic body preferred to utilise internal resources rather than incur interest costs from bank loans. He clarified that the withdrawal would be strategic. “Only funds held in short-term fixed deposits will be used. Deposits locked in for longer tenures will remain untouched. We have already issued the necessary instructions to the relevant departments,” Barne told reporters.PCMC chief accounts and finance officer Satyawan Ubale clarified that Rs550 crore is not being diverted from other civic works. Instead, it represents money originally reserved for the Pavana closed-pipeline project, which was halted in 2011 following violent protests and a stay by the state govt.“When the project was stalled, the allocated funds were parked in fixed deposits. With the state govt recently lifting the stay, these funds can now be utilised for their intended purpose,” Ubale said.The decision has nonetheless drawn fire from opposition parties and civic activists, who questioned the financial health of the corporation. Critics argued that a civic body once celebrated as one of the wealthiest in India should not have to dip into reserves to finance infrastructure.They also blamed a perceived decline in financial discipline on the recent period of administrative rule, during which the elected body was dissolved.According to PCMC officials, the civic body currently maintains a total FD corpus of Rs5,768 crore. This includes Rs1,550 crore in general FDs and Rs4,218 crore in reserved FDs.
