PMC rejects irrigation department’s demand for a 10% water cut and jackwell control.
City quota clash: PMC wants 21 TMC water, but only 14.61 TMC approved.
Poll pressure: Any cut could spark public anger before civic elections.
Pune, 20 September 2025: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has flatly refused a proposal from the state irrigation department to reduce the city’s water supply by 10 percent and transfer control of the Khadakwasla jackwell pumping station.
The demand was raised during a joint meeting on Thursday, but PMC officials made it clear that neither water cuts nor operational control of the jackwell would be accepted.
The irrigation department had argued that PMC is drawing more than its sanctioned quota and should both conserve water and allow the department to regulate pumping at Khadakwasla. For 2025–26, PMC had sought 21 TMC of water, but the department approved only 14.61 TMC. Officials warned that the city must operate within this limit.
However, PMC countered that the city’s population has grown to nearly 8.4 million, with rapid construction and expanding boundaries, making a 10 percent cut impossible without severely disrupting the existing supply schedule.
PMC also pressed for an increase in its annual quota, but irrigation engineers rejected the request, insisting the city practice stricter water management instead. Additional Municipal Commissioner M. J. Pradeep Chandran led the meeting in the absence of Municipal Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram, who chose not to attend after learning of the irrigation department’s stance.
Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram later stated that the corporation has “categorically declined” both the proposed water cut and the transfer of jackwell control. He maintained that any reduction would cripple Pune’s current water distribution plan.
The standoff comes as all four dams in the Khadakwasla project remain at full capacity and the Mutha river continues to release excess water downstream. Civic elections are expected in January, and political observers note that imposing water cuts despite full reservoirs could create a major backlash for the state’s ruling coalition.
Opposition leaders, including Shiv Sena city chief Ravindra Dhangekar, have already submitted a memorandum to PMC opposing any move to reduce supply.
