Pune was flooded last week after incessant rainfall pounded the city in Maharashtra for several days. The Khadakwasla dam is one of the many which were running over their capacity due to the floods. The dam is the closest to Pune city and fulfills the water needs of thousands of households in the nearby areas. However, the floods have increased the turbidity of the dam water which has led to people getting muddy water in their homes.
But the situation has still remained the same even after nine days of flooding. Residents of the nearby areas are still receiving contaminated water and are forced to spend thousands on water tankers. The dam water is not even usable for domestic needs, and water woes of the residents are now going from bad to worse.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is saying that the incessant rains are responsible for the increased turbidity of water, while claiming to work on making the water usable. Superintendent Engineer of PMC Water Supply Department, Aniruddha Pawaskar, told Pune Mirror that the situation would be back to normal within a week.
However, it has almost been a week, and the residents are still getting mud in the name of water. While the government is simply blaming the rains for the higher turbidity of water, experts believe the water disaster is a man-made one. Water expert Upendra Dhonde said the damage caused to nature in the name of development is solely responsible for today’s situation.
Dhonde said the rapid development in the Western Ghats led to soil erosion and other bad effects to the environment, adding that the muddy water in Pune is the consequence of the past government actions.
Water quality is measured through nephelometric turbidity units (NTU). Under normal circumstances, the water turbidity ranges from 1 to 5 NTU. The NTU of Khadakwasla dam water has reached 200 NTU this year.
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