Alternate-day supply: PMC gets over 1,000 complaints in 10 days; half of them addressed, say officials

Pune: Ten days after the civic administration enforced an alternate-day water supply to combat the deepening crisis, the city is already echoing with discontent. More than 1,100 complaints have poured in from residents, exposing cracks in the system meant to provide relief.The worst-hit appear to be the Peth areas and pockets dependent on the Cantonment and SNDT water works, where frustration is mounting by the day. “Nearly 500 complaints have been addressed by field teams. Most grievances centred around weak water pressure, erratic supply or taps running dry within minutes,” an official from PMC water supply department said.Officials insisted they were scrambling to tweak supply schedules to ease public anger.

In Shivajinagar, for instance, complaints subsided after timings were shifted to the morning. But the sense of relief remains patchy.Raj Patil of Shivajinagar, who raised one of the early complaints, said the situation had become alarming after the supply cuts came into force on June 15. “Water supply in our area dropped drastically once alternate-day distribution began. We raised the issue, officials inspected the area, and some changes were made,” he said.

Yet, just a few lanes away, relief has not reached everyone. Pramod Gaikwad, a resident of PMC Colony in Shivajinagar, said low pressure continued to plague his locality despite adjustments. “Nearby areas are receiving water with decent pressure, but our taps barely trickle. The supply is clearly uneven. Such disparities exist across the city. The administration must act and ensure fair distribution,” he said.The growing unease has also reached political corridors. Several corporators have flagged glaring inconsistencies. Representatives from the Tadiwala Road area said the administration had failed to maintain stable pressure, even after 10 days of implementing the new system. “There is no consistency. Even after repeated complaints, lapses persist,” a corporator said, warning that public frustration was building rapidly.Admitting to initial hiccups, PMC the officials said the biggest challenge had been restoring supply smoothly under the new schedule. “We received a high number of complaints about water not reaching certain areas at all. We are prioritising these cases. The tail-end localities remain a concern, and we are working on corrective measures,” a senior civic official said.As tempers rise and taps continue to sputter, the administration is now planning to extend operational hours at tanker-filling points — a temporary fix for a problem that shows no immediate signs of drying up.