Water, City, Citizens & Real Estate!!

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“There are often many people dying from thirst while many people are running for dear life away from the rain” … Mokokoma Mokhonoana

Mokokoma studies human beings, and after some of his observations, he either writes or draws. He shares his observations through aphorisms, essays, books, and cartoons. He strives to make people think; sometimes, that leaves them laughing. His work is an attempt to link our beliefs, actions, institutions, ignorance, and arrogance, with human suffering. No wonder his observation about the water is so perfect & who better than we the Indians can agree with his above quote as on one side when entire eastern part of our country is fighting with floods due to heavy rains then on the other side our Smart City (Pune, which else) has been on verge of drought with water cuts already in place. Here a typical Puneri citizen will smirk & comment, what’s new in it, less water has been a routine thing for many localities already, rains or no rains, right? Well, I myself come from a ever draught region i.e. Vidarbha (eastern parts of Maharashtra State) & I have witnessed a scenario where an entire family of four has to manage all the daily chores in two or three buckets of water means mere 40 litres, that too one has to pay dearly for. And this is still a scene in many parts of our State though Pune has always been lucky on the water part rather that was the backbone of the city as well real estate in the city & region for years!

A smart person may notice the use of past tense i.e., “was” but that’s fact as even today many parts of the city rarely face any water shortage while many of the localities face water shortage all year long. Till the recent past the biggest problem the city has to face was & is. “traffic” but it seems water is fast replacing the traffic on the problem front & soon will become the number one on the chart of the citizens! And no wonder, as we the Indian’s don't acknowledge any social or public or civic issue as a personal problem unless it directly pinches our pocket, which water is doing now! At my native place I have seen acute water shortage all year long & whatever water we used to get was way below par on quality level & even today the scene is the same in many rural parts of our State is a fact. On that background when I came to Pune for engg, I was heartened to see, there is water flowing from the tap at any given time of the day here, which for me was (and is, till recent) like staying in the heaven & I am sure this must be the emotion which many migrants in this city must have felt! And let me tell you this is one of the most important aspects of Pune becoming a real estate hub in Central India (on the North South scale I am referring too). As here was a city which has jobs, has culture, good weather, connectivity to the financial capital of the country & had capacity to provide good quality water to every entity, may it be for drinking or for industry, what more humans need to settle down at any location, right?

But like many other fronts of life the things you get at free of cost or at meagre price, you rarely respect them & water was one such amongst all the above-mentioned pillars of the real estate, for Pune. Because, with the time people have accepted paying price for everything right from education to better transport (thanks to 4 million & above vehicles in Pune) to putting extra hours in job (yeah, that’s price you paid for good package) but water was always available for free o near free of cost & most of us have forgotten that every drop costs! Just the way most stories in Disney movies (now a days I am afraid to use stories from our mythology frankly or else “Satyanarayanchi Katha” I would used as an example) where the power which has gone in wrong hands soon gets wasted & lefts the person holding that power & the story of water boon to the Pune city isn’t different! Here many people will frown saying here is one more person telling us about our use of water & how we are careless blah blah blah! Well, first thing is the present facts doesn’t change because I say something & second thing is I am saying we have wasted water & “We” means everybody right from the Mai Bapp govt which includes people sitting in Mantralay to PMC to all the citizens of this Smart City & our leaders whom we only have elected as our representatives, every one of us is at blame for making water scarce for this once water rich city!

Starting from Mantralay the State bosses i.e. Mai Bapp govt hasn’t taken a firm stand about the water issue of this city even when two of its major dept are fighting over water! PMC which is child of Urban Development Vs Irrigation Dept which controls water in the dams. Thee two depts have logged their heads for years over water & every year same Tamasha (that’s only word come to my mind) we read in newspapers & same threats are given to each other but no senior minister ever intervenes & decides how much water the city (read as Pune region) needs technically & how much it is actually getting & trust me it's not rocket science! This is because no govt wants to tie the bell around the cat named Punekars, instead keep them fighting to show that govt is doing something, is the age-old successful formula which the British used on us for over 150 years & now our own rulers are using the same formula on us!

Then comes the civic bodies i.e. PMC, PCMC as all they do is put a condition of the new project’s sanction that it will be developer’s responsibility to provide water to the residents & collect the premiums from developments of the new projects & even property tax also from the residents of such projects! At the same time keep chanting about the 24 hours water supply scheme provided water meters will be in place which our own elected members don’t approve for reasons well known to even a five-year-old kid, yes, its water tanker supply chain & money involved in it! May there be a tri-party’s govt in PMC or a Single Part govt, none of the elected members has ever taken any lead to strengthen the infrastructure of water lines & pumping systems for the city backed up with strict metered water supply! Yes, there is one more angle to not accepting the concept of only metered water supply & that is illegal homes as by law you can’t give water or electric connection to any illegal residence & the region has nearly 40% (it may be reverse also) population living in illegal homes & they are vote banks, so who is going to cut their water supply & lose the elections, right? Best way is as there is no meter so there is no control on water supply or use, so “Blame it on Rio'' (sorry, it's just a popular phrase) is the best way! And more joke is the PMRDA i.e. area outside PMC & PCMC limits, here only rain god can help is the scene as its more than six years the planning authority is in place but no concrete solution of plan is there for water supply is fact & again, I will blame Mantralay for this as PMRDA is also child (may be a step-child) of urban development dpt only & UD has to take its responsibility! The joke is, in the last nearly ten years (barring recent two & half years) UD was with the Chief Minister & still there is no action on water supply source & net-work of the same in PMRDA region is a fact which everybody is silent about!

Then there are so called NGOs’, Environmentalists & yes Media also which for smallest of infrastructure issues put it on the real estate (read as builders) but nobody utters a word about why the water supply schemes which includes identifying source, allotting quota (right quantity) & making distribution system which will be effective till end user, all of this is place! Oh yes, there is one Environment dept also on the State & any project which is bigger than built up area of 2 lakh sq ft needs to have an NOC from this dept. Well, nothing wrong with it but this dept asks the developer to produce the certificate (read as guarantee) about water supply to the residents of the respective projects for granting NOC & ground water or tanker such sources are not allowed but an affidavit from the respective public body is a must! What a joke, you guys decide where to build & how much, you guys collect all the money for infrastructure, you guys decide rate of this collection of premiums, you guys even collect property tax for the services your are providing (and even the services which you are not providing also) & on top of it you guys asks developers to get an NOC regarding water supply for impact the project will makes on environment, wow; I think our Hon PM must take Pune real estate as case study for his Ease of Doing Business campaign!

And last but not least, the citizens of Smart City & their approach towards water consumption! Till recent past there were only two categories of the citizens when it’s about attitude towards the water; one is those who cares as well use the water wisely & another category is who doesn’t cares & thinks using (read as wasting) water is their birth right but recently there is third category of citizens, those who don’t get water in first place & held their builder responsible for this! Let me tell you as an engineer (not as a builder), no builder should, can or will be ever considered as responsible for supplying water to its completed project’s residents because it’s the responsibility of the concerned civic body which they forcefully load on builder’s shoulders! The builder can make arrangements of water storage such as ground & overhead water tanks as well as pumping system & plumbing for the same but how & from where he is supposed to get the water line to your project which is part of city infrastructure! So, please get this aspect cleared before booking the flat & I also appeal to the builders to be transparent while selling your units as don’t commit something which you can't do. Here I want to ask all the flat holders (read as citizens) once given possession you pay for your electricity charges, as well you only pay for the petrol in your car’s tank, right? Then why & how you can expect the water used to be bare by your developer when you are the one who is using that water! And if your city’s rulers are unable to supply you water despite taking money for it, then why don’t you blame them for less water supply than blaming your builder, ask this to yourself first, is it justice?

At the same time those societies which have good & adequate water supply (well there are still such lucky ones), do they control their water uses judiciously, is there any such system installed? For e.g. installing meters on down-take lines to check consumption if not supply & if there is so, then who keeps any eye (read as record) on consumption of water in such societies’ or that too is the builder's responsibility? CREDAI as well PMC & such civic bodies must join hands on awareness campaigns for making people know about means of water conservation & promote instead blaming each other’s or making weird laws for Environment NOC such as not considering ground water or recycled water as source of water!  Friends, this city is blessed with good water sources, (five dams) as the record shows there isn’t much change in the pattern of rainfall over last hundred years; what has changed is, our attitude towards our responsibilities for the water & we only can change as then only we can make the water as boon for everyone related with this city which or else soon will have to be named as “Panipat” (an historic place of battle where Marathi Army lost in big way) from Pune! And though this sharing revolves around Pune yet water is & will be backbone of every town & city for its growth & real estate must take lead to play the role of “Bhagirath” on this front or else we may build even a Taj-Mahal but without the water, it will be just a Tomb & never a Home, mind it!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at You Tube link below..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xX7eopH5o&t=5s

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2021/09/choosing-right-home.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2021/09/blog-post_21.html

Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

www.punecorporation.org

Take your issues to Hon PM at link below..

https://secure.mygov.in/

Think Green, Think Life