Power outage at Ravet pumping station disrupts water supply to Pimpri Chinchwad

Pune: Water supply to most areas in Pimpri Chinchwad was disrupted on Tuesday following a major power failure at the Ravet pumping station, the city’s primary water source.According to the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation’s (PCMC) water supply department, the outage occurred around 6am, forcing all 13 pumps at the station to shut down.

The suspension of water extraction also brought operations at the Sector 23 water treatment plant in Nigdi to a standstill, throwing the day’s supply schedule into disarray across most neighbourhoods.Officials reported that recovery efforts began in the afternoon, with three pumps restarted using a backup power arrangement. By 4 pm, eight additional pumps were brought back online after power was restored through a back-feeding system.“The fault was traced to the power network near Pawar Wasti on the Aundh-Ravet BRT corridor. Repair work is currently underway with the joint assistance of MSEDCL and the PCMC electricity department,” a water supply official stated.The official noted that repairs were initially delayed due to a manpower shortage at MSEDCL, as most of their staff were addressing widespread power complaints in Ravet and Kiwale areas. Consequently, the PCMC electricity department deployed its own staff to help MSEDCL technicians trace the fault.

The Ravet pumping station draws water from the Pavana Dam and is responsible for meeting the vast majority of the city’s drinking water needs. While power is being restored in phases, civic officials cautioned that it will take another four to five hours for the water pressure to stabilise and supply to return to normal.The disruption has caused significant hardship for residents, who are already struggling with the civic body’s existing alternate-day water supply schedule.

Many citizens expressed frustration over the lack of timely communication.“We waited for hours with no information about the fault at the pumping station,” said Sunil Kale, a resident of Thergaon. “Only later did we realise that the supply might not resume at all today. We eventually had to arrange for drinking water from private suppliers.”