PMC implements new rules to prevent water spill accidents
To prevent accidents caused by water spilling on roads, the municipal corporation has decided not to provide water from its tanker filling stations to tankers without lids or with leaking taps.
Nandkishor Jagtap, chief of the Water Supply Department said, “We have decided not to supply water to tankers without lids from the municipal corporation’s tanker filling centres. We have given a January 15 deadline to repair tankers after that the rule will be enforced and water will not be supplied to tankers.”
To address the water needs in scarcity-hit areas of the city, municipal and private tankers transport water throughout the day. However, many tankers either lack lids for their water tanks or do not use them even when available.
As a result, water spills onto busy roads, particularly on cemented roads, creating a mixture of dust and sludge that increases the risk of vehicles skidding.
Considering this issue, incidents of skidding due to spilt water have risen, prompting the announcement of additional regulations for tankers.
The city’s water supply hubs include municipal tanker filling centres, which facilitate a large number of daily tanker trips across the city. During transportation, water often spills from tankers due to the absence of lids, leaky taps, or damaged tank structures. This poses a risk of accidents as vehicles can skid on the spilt water. To mitigate these risks, the administration has implemented new rules.
Water through Tankers
PMC covers 340.45 square km of area, and according to civic water budget figures, the city has a population of approximately 50 lakh.
Kharadi, Keshavnagar NIBM, Kondhwa, Phurshungi, Hadapsar, Vimannagar, Dhanori, and newly merged villages such as Fursungi, Baner Balewadi, Handewadi, Uruli-Devachi, Ambegaon, Wadgaon Dhayri, Sade Satranali, Wagholi, and Manjari are water scarcity regions where the civic body delivers water via tankers.
The water is supplied with the help of water tanker filling stations at Gunjan Theatre, Wadgaonsheri, Cantonment, Parvati, Ramtekdi and Chatuhshringi.
Daily 250 to 300 water tankers make trips to different locations and most tanker-supplied water is for drinking purposes. As per sources, almost 1,000 litres of water waste per centre is reported due to missing lids or leaking taps of the water tankers. The PMC water department revealed that the majority of the water is wasted while manually reloading the tankers at the pumping stations.
