Nashik Grapples with Severe Water Supply Crisis for Over a Week
Water supply across Nashik city has remained severely disrupted for more than a week, triggering widespread complaints from residents and corporators. Many have alleged the supply of muddy and foul-smelling water in several areas, compounding the daily hardships faced by citizens.
Municipal Standing Committee Takes Urgent Action
Taking serious note of the escalating situation, chairperson of the Nashik Municipal Corporation's (NMC) standing committee, Machhindra Sanap, on Thursday directed the civic water supply department to significantly scale up emergency arrangements across the entire city.
Sanap issued specific instructions to officials to deploy two water tankers in each of the city's 31 municipal wards, bringing the total number of tankers to 62. This directive represents a substantial increase from the current deployment of only 15-20 tankers catering to the entire city—a number that officials and elected representatives have admitted is grossly inadequate given the scale of disruption.
Committee Meeting Reveals Depth of Crisis
The directive was issued during a standing committee meeting on Thursday, where members raised strong concerns over the prolonged disruption in water supply across all six divisions of the NMC. Standing committee members revealed that the water supply department had enforced a two-day shutdown on April 4-5 to carry out repair works on major water distribution pipelines and water treatment plants.
However, despite the shutdown and repair works, water supply has not returned to normal, leaving large parts of the city facing acute shortages. Members pointed out that residents are receiving erratic and low-pressure supply, while some areas have reported contaminated water, further compounding the crisis.
"Even after the shutdown and repairs, supply has not stabilised. In many localities, water is either muddy or foul-smelling," members said during the meeting, highlighting the persistent nature of the problem.
Over 200 Complaints Received in Recent Days
Admitting to the seriousness of the issue, Sanap confirmed that the water supply situation in the city had worsened in recent days. He revealed that he had received over 200 complaints from residents in the past three to four days regarding inadequate and contaminated water supply.
"Citizens are facing severe hardships. Immediate corrective steps are required," Sanap emphasized during the meeting, underscoring the urgency of the situation.
Sanap directed the water supply department to immediately take all necessary measures to restore normal supply and ensure equitable distribution across all areas. He specifically instructed officials to increase the number of water tankers in all six municipal divisions and ensure that at least two tankers are available in each ward until the situation normalizes completely.
Water Supply Department's Response and Measures
Responding to the concerns raised during the meeting, Ravindra Dharankar, superintending engineer (water supply and sewage), assured that the department would soon scale up tanker services as directed. He confirmed that arrangements were being made to deploy two tankers in each of the 31 wards at the earliest to meet emergency demand.
Dharankar also informed the committee that NMC has increased the city's water supply by an additional 11 million litres per day (MLD) over the past three to four days. The total supply has gone up from 614 MLD to 625 MLD in an effort to compensate for the disruption and ensure that residents receive adequate water.
He added that at the end of February, the city was receiving around 600 MLD, indicating the recent efforts to boost supply amid the ongoing crisis.
Residents Continue to Depend on Alternative Arrangements
Civic officials confirmed that efforts are underway to stabilize supply in the coming days, even as residents continue to depend heavily on water tankers and private arrangements to meet their daily needs. The prolonged disruption has forced many households to seek alternative water sources, creating additional challenges during what has become a significant public utility crisis.
The situation remains fluid as municipal authorities work to implement emergency measures while addressing the underlying infrastructure issues that have led to this extended period of water supply disruption across Nashik.
