The fears have been generated as the agency, which completed the scheme and is still running it, has not been paid its dues by the Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP). The MJP officials, however, assure that the issue will be sorted out and water supply will not be cut, and ``certainly not during the festive period of Diwali.''

The agency has demanded that dues of Rs 65 lakh be paid immediately and has conveyed that it will be impossible for it to run the scheme after Diwali.

The fringe villages of Charholi and Dighi in Pimpri-Chinchwad limits, besides the villages of Kalas, Dhanori, Tingrenagar, Lohegaon, Chandannagar, Vadgaon Sheri, Kharadi, Wagholi, Bakori, Kesnand and Wadhebolhai in Pune municipal limits have been getting nearly 30 MLD (million liters per day) since May 1998.

Shiv Sena MLA Gajanan Babar under whose initiative the scheme was completed said that the villagers have been making frantic enquiries to him regarding reports that water supply would be cut. He said that the fears of the villagers may come true if the contractor was unable to run the scheme. ``Either the government has to take an early decision regarding taking over the scheme from the contractor or pay him the dues at the earliest,'' Babar said.

At a meeting convened by divisional commissioner Rajiv Agarwal on Thursday, it was decided that the Pune Municipal Corporation will pay the water supply charges due from June 1999 onwards. The previous dues will be paid by the MJP. The PMC is to take over the scheme from April next year.

The agency said that it has appointed 60 employees for running the scheme and as dues amounting to Rs 65 lakh were pending, it did not have enough amount to pay festival bonus to employees. It said that water supply has been uninterrupted for the past one year without problems. The trial period for running the scheme ended in February this year. The MJP officials, when contacted, said the issue of payment of dues will be solved amicably and there was no need for any fear that water supply would be cut. Babar suggested the scheme be run by a private agency as it would be impossible for the PMC to manage it.