Pune, July 10: Thousands of Warkaris staying in Pune for the Ashadhi Wari faced water shortages on Friday morning despite the Pune Municipal Corporation's assurance that adequate water would be provided during the pilgrimage. Devotees in areas including Nana Peth, Bhawani Peth and Guruwar Peth reported disruptions after water supply was affected due to air trapped in distribution pipelines, officials said.

The PMC had earlier withdrawn planned water cuts in the city to ensure an uninterrupted supply for the lakhs of Warkaris arriving for the annual pilgrimage. However, many devotees found little or no water at schools, community halls and temporary water points set up by the civic body for bathing, washing clothes and other basic needs. In several locations, water was available only at very low pressure.

The issue came to light after the palkhis of Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj and Sant Tukaram Maharaj halted in Pune on Thursday night, with lakhs of Warkaris camping across different parts of the city. Local volunteers said they received multiple complaints from pilgrims and struggled to contact civic officials, with several calls reportedly going unanswered during the morning.

Local representative Rishikesh Balgude said water was unavailable in parts of Guruwar Peth since morning, while areas receiving supply experienced extremely low pressure. He said poor planning by the water supply department had caused inconvenience to the pilgrims.

Another local representative, Chetan Agarwal, said he repeatedly tried contacting municipal officials after water supply stopped around 8:30 am, but received no response.

Responding to the complaints, Nandkishor Jagtap, head of the PMC Water Supply Department, said the city's overall water supply remained normal. He attributed the problem to empty storage tanks at some schools and airlocks in a few pipelines, which reduced water pressure. He added that water tankers were deployed immediately as an alternative arrangement.