CM to take a call on pipeline to Pavana

The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has urged the state government to get the stalled Rs 400-crore Maval pipeline rolling again. The project had hit a hurdle following the death of three protesting farmers in police firing in Maval in August last year. PCMC now expects Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan to take a "quick decision" in the larger public interest.

On Tuesday, a PCMC delegation led by Mayor Mohini Lande, Municipal Commissioner Shrikar Pardeshi and MLAs Vilas Lande, Laxman Jagtap and Anna Bansode met Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in Mumbai and brought to his notice observations of the Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority (MWRRA) regarding the project.

The report of the MWRRA, which has backed the project, recommended that PCMC could draw water from Ravet bund on the Pavana river for four months during monsoon, and make use of the pipeline for the remaining eight months. The civic chief said the PCMC has requested the state government to give its nod for the pipeline work stalled for a year now. He said the request to the government was made on the basis of the MWRRA recommendations. "We cited the MWRRA recommendations regarding lifting of water from Ravet bund for four months and directly from Pavana dam for eight months. Our request will now go to the Chief Minister and we expect him to take the decision in the larger public interest," he said.

The cost of the project has already risen by Rs 50 crore and PCMC water department officials fear it will shoot up more. "If delayed further, we fear the cost might go up further," senior officials said. Of the 35-km pipeline from Pavana dam to Nigdi, PCMC has been able to lay down only 1,800 mm of a four-km stretch in PCMC limits. "We laid down part of the pipeline in PCMC limits only," said civic project head Ramdas Tambe. The project had been taken up by three private parties in a joint venture.

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