Pune’s mega industrial hub gasps for water; mulls flight to other states

Mumbai, Sep 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) A sprawling industrial hub in Pune’s Chakan district has complained of a “severe shortage” of water for its hundreds of factories. It also said repeated appeals to the Maharashtra government have fallen on deaf ears, forcing them to explore options of relocating to states like Gujarat, Karnataka or Tamil Nadu.

Angered by alleged obstructionist tactics at all levels in the Mahayuti government, the Chakan Industries Association (CIA) Pune last week wrote to Governor CP Radhakrishnan, besides Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and other senior figures, seeking personal intervention in the matter, a senior official said.

The CIA-Pune, which has been in existence for 16 years and has over 450 members, including many multinationals and small and medium-sized enterprises, mainly in the key automotive sector, complained that the organisation has been “thirsty” for water for almost two decades.

“We have sent more than 30 letters and proposals to the Maharashtra Jal Pradhikaran (MJP). But they have completely ignored our serious problems. Worse still, the MJP has doubled our water charges and halved our water supply. In such a situation, many members are now planning to move to neighbouring states like Gujarat, Karnataka or beyond,” CIA-Pune chairman Motilal Sankla told IANS.

The vibrant Chakan region is divided into two major industrial areas and is among the six major and minor industrial areas in Pune district.

One of them is the MIDC, which is spread over 9,000 hectares and employs over 2.75 lakh people. All the necessary infrastructure and facilities are provided by the state government.

The other is the Free Zone Industrial Area (FZIA), where the 450-plus members of CIA-Pune are based on 4,000 acres of land. It employs over 200,000 people, but all facilities are provided by the local authorities.

The FZIA has been grappling with water scarcity since its early days, almost three decades ago, and finally managed to convince the state government to start a water supply scheme of 16 MLD from the Bhama-Askhed dam. In 2010, it was named ‘CIA & 19 Villages Water Supply Scheme’.

The scheme costing Rs 25.65 crore was described by the then Union Minister Sharad Pawar as a pilot project of MJP. It was meant to meet the water requirements of the CIA-Pune FZIA, which was expected to be around 7.06 MLD and the 19 villages would have to supply the rest, taking into account distribution losses, etc., Sankla explained.

The CIA-Pune contributed 20 per cent of the cost for this pilot project and later diligently paid all the monthly water bills, at the rate of Rs 21/1000 litre, amounting to over Rs 42 crore in the last 15 years.

“However, the reality was very different. Against the promised Rs 7.06 million, we were getting barely Rs 4.5 million till 2019 and now it has come down to around Rs 2 million. Moreover, the MJP has doubled the water tariff to Rs 45.21/1,000 litres, compared to the MIDC’s tariff of just Rs 21.50/1,000 litres. Around 70 big industries here have no water at all and are completely dependent on private tankers,” Sankla complained.

According to Pune-based activist Prafful Sarda, the unique Sharad Pawar industrial initiative is now being deprived of water, causing it to die a ‘slow death’ and forcing industries to leave Maharashtra, resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect jobs.

“If there is sufficient water available with the MJP, why are the 19 villages and CIA-Pune being deprived of their rightful share of water supply? Where is the water leakage/diversion or is the tanker mafia taking advantage at the behest of a few corrupt officials,” Sarda told IANS.

Among the big names having units in CIA-Pune FZIA are L’Oreal, Bosch, Mahindra, Bajaj, Force Motors, Bharat Forge, Bomag India and others that are not getting water, said Rajiv Ranka, director, Alpha Foam Ltd.

Ranka said that the top 70 industries spend an average of lakhs of rupees per month on tanker water to meet their water requirement of about 4 MLD, both for industrial purposes and for drinking, due to the MJP debt.

Sarda pointed out that while the Mahayuti government claims to be bringing in big industries and investments, “they will actually set up projects here without guaranteed water supply”, while other states offer much more.

Sankla admits that while Water Resources Minister Gulabrao Patil is cooperative and sympathetic to their concerns, MJP functionaries and certain local interest groups seem to be creating obstacles that could harm the state’s ‘industry-friendly’ image, leading to many people moving to other states.

(Quaid Najmi can be reached at: [email protected])

Source: IANS

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