Pune: The city gets its drinking water supply from the Khadakwasla dam. There are 24 gram panchayats and many resorts around the backwaters of the dam, from which lakhs of litres of sewage water is directly being released into the dam water. This shocking fact has been revealed in a report based on a survey conducted of zilla parishad (ZP) officials.
The surrounding areas of Pune have been urbanized rapidly in the past few decades. Tourists throng to Khadakwasla dam, Sinhagad fort and other tourist spots on weekends near the city. Numerous hotels and resorts have come up along the backwaters of Khadakwasla dam. It has been discovered that they had not sought permission from the respective gram panchayats for construction and treating sewage. They do not even have no objection certificates.
Lakhs of litres of sewage is being released into the dam from 24 gram panchayats within the limits of Haveli and Velha talukas. The population of these gram panchayats is around 55,000. There are over 500 hotels and resorts in the Khadakwasla dam area. Over 1.94 lakh litre sewage is generated from these villages and resorts daily, stated the report.
ZP CEO Ramesh Chavan has decided to take long-term measures to stop the pollution of dam water.
