india

Updated: Jul 23, 2019 16:57 IST

Authorities in Nagpur have decided to extend the existing thrice-a-week cut in the supply of drinking water till August following deficient rainfall in the region and particularly in the city.

Leader of the ruling party in Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) Sandip Joshi said the city has had deficit rainfall till July 15 and there is no forecast of rain till the first week of August. The India Meteorological Department has said the city received 215mm of rainfall since June 1, which is a departure of 135mm from normal.

“The water level in the reservoirs supplying drinking water to Nagpur has gone down. We have stock for just 13 days,” Joshi said as he justified the cuts.

He claimed that Nagpur had not imposed water cuts during the summer, unlike Pune and Akola, but the situation now warranted the decision.

This is the first time authorities in Nagpur have imposed a ban of daily water supply to its citizens. The city has entrusted the city’s distribution of water supply to a private company Orange City Water Limited.

The chairperson of NMC’s water works committee Vijay Zalke said the decision to cut water supply could be reviewed in case the district gets good rainfall in the coming days.

Zalke said the corporation has issued warnings to all government departments and bulk consumers of action in case water is used for non-drinking purposes or if leakages are found in taps and tanks. All local swimming pools will also remain shut during the period.

The Congress party blamed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the crisis in the drinking water supply. The leader of opposition Tanaji Wanve said people were facing problems because of mismanagement of NMC.

“The water cut is a big issue and it (decision) should have been taken in the general body meeting of the civic body,” the Congress leader said.