A project for the automation of all pumping stations started by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in October has run into rough weather with the company engaged in implementation complaining of non-cooperation from the civic staff. The PMC has initiated the project to address the perennial complaint of water taps suddenly running dry in the city. Municipal Commissioner Mahesh Zagade has said that action would be taken against these officers. The PMC pumps out 650 million litres of water per day which it receives from the Khadakwasla dam. The civic administration has to frequently stop water supply to carry out maintenance and repair of the pumping station causing inconvenience to thousands of households. Also,the loss of water due to leakage has troubled the civic administration for long. The PMC water supply department has been divided into three zones to ensure equitable distribution of water to all parts of the city. While some parts of the city have been getting excess water,other newly developing areas are facing a severe shortage. The project will help improve the performance of pumping stations and help in reducing the frequent breakdown of the machinery and disruption of water supply, said V G Kulkarni,PMC development engineer (water project). He admitted that there is a delay in executing the project. We have asked Cimcon Software India Pvt Ltd to speed up the work and complete automation of one pumping station by January-end before duplicating it for all the pumping stations. Kulkarni said that he was aware of the complaint made by the company against the PMC staff. There has been a complaint by the company and on basis of it the municipal commissioner has ordered action against those creating hurdles, he said. However,when asked about the complaint,Tejas Dave,Project Manager of Cimcon Software,assured that as of now everything was alright. Our project of semi-automation with the PMC is being executed and it is nearing completion. Once the project is complete,the administration can constantly monitor the performance of each water pump at the pumping station. We can carry out the maintenance of the pumps before any major damage would affect the water supply. It will also help prevent frequent breakdowns of the pumping station, he added. The independent officers appointed for each zone have been asked to carry out an audit of water supply in their respective regions.
