6-hr water cap, 6 extra tankers bust NMC’s no-shortage claim

Nagpur: The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) claim of no water shortage notwithstanding, the civic body has been forced to mandate six hours of daily supply and deploy six additional tankers per zone to tackle mounting complaints of low pressure and erratic distribution across the city.At a high-level meeting on Thursday, the water works dept was directed to immediately scale up tanker operations for the peak summer months. Water works committee chairperson Divya Dhurde, who attended the meeting, told TOI that 36 tankers are already being pressed into service, with fresh instructions to increase six more tankers in each of the city's 10 zones for network areas.The move comes despite NMC currently pumping 765MLD water — 220MLD from Kanhan river and 545MLD from Pench reservoir — raising serious questions over distribution efficiency rather than availability.Zonal sabhapatis flagged widespread complaints of low-pressure supply, exposing gaps in the much-publicised water management system. The situation is further aggravated by massive losses, with nearly 220MLD falling under non-revenue water, largely due to leakages and pipeline failures.In a delayed response, Orange City Water Limited (OCWL) has now been told to procure 10 leakage detection machines, up from the current three, and recruit skilled manpower to plug losses.The panel also issued strict directives to resolve contaminated water complaints within two days, a recurring issue in several localities. Poor road restoration after pipeline work drew sharp criticism, with Dhurde ordering immediate repairs of all dug-up stretches before the monsoon.The meeting at ruling party leader Narendra Borkar's chamber saw participation only from BJP-ruled zones. No representatives from Congress-led Ashi Nagar and Mangalwari zones were invited, adding a political undertone to what was projected as a city-wide crisis review. Congress corporator Dinesh Yadav claimed that several areas in his prabhag number 2 are still receiving contaminated water. There are no efforts by NMC's water works dept to resolve the issues of water contamination.Senior officials, including superintending engineer Shweta Banerjee and executive engineer Shrikant Waikar, along with OCWL representatives, were present. Despite official claims of adequate supply, the ground reality tells a different story — one where citizens are left dependent on tankers and time-bound supply in the peak of summer.