Pune: Restoration of water supply improved slightly this Friday after Thursday’s weekly closure, with residents from different city areas saying they received flow in their taps in morning slots. However, the ongoing chronic issue of low-pressure supply on post-cut resumption has continued since Oct 15.Several residents said they received water at very low pressure, and the issue has not been addressed effectively by Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) despite assurances. The low pressure is hampering overall water availability, complained citizens, as they are getting less quantity of water within stipulated supply schedules.For instance, Shivajinagar resident Ashok Raout said that during last week’s Thursday closure, his area had still not received water on Friday. “This week, we were worried that we would once again face a two-day water closure. Thankfully, supply was restored in the morning hours of Friday, albeit at very low pressure. We do not understand why the civic administration is not able to maintain adequate pressure,” Raout said.Similar problems were faced in many other areas, including Prabhat Road, Peth areas, Hadapsar, Solapur Road and parts of Kothrud, where residents either failed to receive water at all or got flow at low pressure.Officials from PMC’s water supply department claimed that demand for water goes up on Friday after Thursday’s closure as many attempt to draw more water, which results in low pressure. According to them, localities towards the end of distribution lines or at upward gradients face maximum problems. It has also been learnt that people install motors to draw water, and yet another reason behind low pressure is a drop in water levels of overhead storage tanks.An official, requesting anonymity, said, “The distribution lines cannot maintain adequate water pressure if there is a drop in levels in overhead tanks that supply water to the distribution network. So, we are looking at maintaining adequate water levels in overhead tanks after weekly Thursday closures now.”The administration is further looking into introducing changes in operations of valves fixed on distribution lines to maintain adequate pressure. The plan for now is to operate the valves in such a manner that water can be distributed evenly in each zone.Last week, many areas failed to receive water till late evening on Friday after Thursday’s weekly water closure.Nandkishor Jagtap, head of PMC’s water supply department, told TOI, “We are concentrating on quick restoration of supply. Low pressure has been a challenge. More improvement will come in water distribution in the next few weeks.”The civic administration has deployed teams in each zone to overcome the problem of airlocks due to empty lines.
