Where is Sustainable Water Supply?
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“Human nature is like water. It takes the shape of its container.” ―
“No one can know the infinite importance of a tiny drop of water better than a thirsty bird or a little ant or a man of the desert!” ―
Just last year it rained 125% i.e. lot more than the average rainfall so we all were happy & thought this year also will be same & our State’s assembly elections were in the last year, needless to say the govt was busy in distributing water (and subsidies) like there is no tomorrow but nature doesn’t work like govt & it has shown us the tomorrow in the form of today’s draught! Yes, there is draught already on the front of water as the monsoon deficit is nearly 15 % ( in many regions its more than 30%) & dams are already touching bottom & we don’t have rains in entire September & October, means to fill up the deficit of water we only have one way, Save Water & which means less water for everybody! Imagine, just a choke up in the supply cycle of oil (war effect) can make such havoc, what havoc there will be if the water supply chain gets choke up, this is something which the real estate industry must look at very seriously & act! Here, many will say what can we do on the water's front, it's the government's responsibility, well govt has already shrugged it off by making developers’ give undertaking for everything available under the sun! Govt (read as sanctioning/ local authorities) makes builder responsible for supplying water for the projects, drainage line, storm water lines, electric supply (at our cost for infrastructure), road & what not & on the top of this we are supposed to do a perfect quality product construction also which is our duty & yet keep the city green also! From where we are going to make money if we have to spend on all fronts & we don’t have enough buyers who can buy homes at our quoted rates, is something not the govt’s responsibility because govt doesn’t consider us as an industry or thinks we can take care of ourselves!
And the first thing govt (local bodies) does when there is draught or no water in dams, well, just redraft an Affidavit / Undertaking (one more) from the builder about he will take responsibility of water supply to the residents & sanctioning the new projects, so the govt can tell people, it was builder’s responsibility to provide them water, see we have taken undertaking from him, saying so! How convenient, please get an undertaking from the builder that he will pay instalments of loan also for the flat holders if they are unable to repay the loan, as well as ask the builder to get groceries for the residents also at his cost if inflation is too much & pay school fees of flat holder’s kids if fees are too high. And oh yes, ask the builder to pay for Ola/Uber charges also if the flat holder is needed to travel for longer distance to get essential services such as medical assistance! Come on, guys, what are we doing, as first, let's decide who is responsible for providing infrastructure to any building, not just some parts or a region or city, which is a basic of urban planning, right? And if today PMC / PCMC/ PMRDA are asking for water affidavit in some areas what guaranty is there, that they won't ask tomorrow such affidavits for city’s central areas also & more, what if all these authorities start asking for such undertakings for access road's maintenance, or drainage line or electric supply or telephone services, what will builders do, is my question! And the very same government lays Red Carpet for so called Data Centres, Auto Industries & many other businesses urging them to start their units for employment generation, rather gives them assured water supply & other infra on priority that too on discounted rates, so why only the real estate industry which provides homes to the citizens & generates employment along (real, not virtual) gets Step-Child treatment, is my question!
And then there is one more angle to all this water undertaking joke, as govt itself acknowledges lakhs of sq. ft of illegal construction & does every effort to legalize them, add in it slums which are illegal straight way, so who provides water to these all-illegal homes & has undertaking been taken from the builders of these illegal homes about water supply? As on one side a person who is trying to build a legal home for the people who are buying it at high cost as its legal home, govt is fast & keen to slap an undertaking on them for water supply responsibility & threatens to charge criminal offense in case of failure doing so & on other side the same govt turns blind eye & deaf year towards illegal constructions who also use the same water which is right of the legal buildings, baat kuch hajam nahi huai! As well the very same govt doesn’t bother to go behind the societies who has water recycling plants, rain water harvesting systems which has been done by the builders (read as legal builders) & there is no system to check about effectiveness of these water conservation techniques at completed projects, as that is damaging the vote bank, right? And on top of all this mess (sorry that's the only word come to my mind) same time UD allows zone change of agricultural land to residential land on some certificate of Dug Well water supply & such unreliable sources of water, why that's allowed if you don’t have water for even the already planned development! Guys, open up eyes & senses (if any) & start working in the right direction on the water conservation front & do it fast or else there will be only undertakings & affidavits & filed complaints, but no water is writing on the wall! Good Lokmanya Tilak isn’t between us today or he would have definitely written an editorial with the caption,"Sarkache Doke Bhijle aahe ka”!
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Sanjay Deshpande
Sanjeevani Dev.
Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked...
https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345
Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying!
https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2025/12/pune-real-estate-in-2026.html
https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html
https://jeevnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2026/08/
Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345
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www.punecorporation.org
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