Undri residents, nine years in PMC, still rely on tankers and threaten road blockade over civic neglect

Undri, October 24, 2026: Nine years after Undri was merged into the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), residents of the fast-growing suburb still depend on private water tankers. They say road facilities are inadequate and the development plan, which will decide future civic amenities, has yet to be approved.

Residents of Undri, Mohammadwadi and surrounding areas say they pay property tax to the corporation but must still spend separately on drinking water and sewage arrangements. They have warned of a rasta roko at Kad Nagar and Undri Chowk if their demands are ignored. These include a time-bound action plan for piped water supply, an elevated water tank, road widening, better policing and control over private tankers.

Residents say the main problem is the delay in approving the development plan, which will set the framework for roads, water facilities and other public amenities. They say the draft plan for the nine merged villages was published on October 17, 2025, but the Maharashtra government has not yet approved it.

Undri was merged into the corporation on October 4, 2017, along with some other fringe areas. Residents say many societies on Undri hill still have neither a piped water network nor an elevated tank. Societies therefore buy water for daily needs from private tanker operators. Residents claim this extra expense is a heavy burden on families who already pay property tax and water-related charges to the corporation.

Sunil Iyer, a member of the Mohammadwadi-Undri Residents Welfare Development Foundation (MURWDF), said: "In Undri, the corporation has done one thing very efficiently, and that is collecting money. For water, sewage, roads, police and the plan for the future, we were told to wait on every count. Nine years is no longer a delay. It is a decision to ignore us." He represents residents of Undri Hilltop and the societies across the road in Ward 41.

Residents say property tax rose sharply after the merger, with some saying bills are roughly three times what they were in the gram panchayat era. They ask why charges are levied when many basic services are not provided. Citing figures from a Right to Information reply received in 2025, residents say about Rs 287.73 crore in property tax was collected from Undri and Mohammadwadi over more than four years.

The area's administrative history goes back to 1997, when survey numbers 8 to 11 of Undri came within the corporation limits as part of the inclusion of 23 villages. A state government notification of November 17, 2001 excluded most of Undri, including the gaothan, from the limits. In October 2017 the state government reversed that decision and brought the remaining Undri into the corporation. On June 28, 2018, the corporation formally announced its intention to prepare a development plan.

The plan was not published within the stipulated time. After delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, administrative changes and missed deadlines, responsibility for preparing the draft passed to the state's town planning department. The draft plan was finally published on October 17, 2025 under Section 26(1) of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act, 1966. Undri falls in Planning Area 4 and is covered in sheets 13 and 14 of the plan. The period for objections and suggestions ended in December 2025, yet a year later the plan is still a draft, residents say in their memorandum.

The water shortage has also reached the Bombay High Court. In 2022, residents and citizens' groups from Undri, Pisoli, Baner, Balewadi, Wagholi, Fursungi and other areas filed Public Interest Litigation No. 126/2022. Advocate Satya Mule argued the case. According to residents, the court asked the Pune Municipal Corporation, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation and the Pune Zilla Parishad to file affidavits on water supply by December 13, 2022. When the PMC did not appear at the hearing on December 15, 2022, the court warned of a penalty and gave more time.

On April 10, 2023, the court directed the formation of a committee, headed by the divisional commissioner, to review water complaints. It included the municipal commissioner, the water supply officer and the member secretary of the District Legal Services Authority. It was to meet every two months and report on action taken to the court. Residents say these meetings have not brought a piped network to Undri hill.

Sunil Koloti, a MURWDF member, said: "This monthly meeting is a mere show. Officials come, write down our complaints, promise tankers and leave. The court asked for a review mechanism and that is exactly what we got, reviews. In four years, not a metre of pipeline has reached Undri hill from that petition." He wants to ask the High Court to set time-bound directions for building the water network and elevated tank and to fix accountability on officials who miss deadlines.

The PMC additional commissioner is said to have promised on April 23, 2026 that Undri, Mohammadwadi and NIBM Annexe would get piped water by May 15. On May 17, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated water tanks near Dorabjee Mall in Mohammadwadi under the corporation's 24x7 water supply scheme. About three lakh residents of Mohammadwadi, NIBM and Undri were said to stand to benefit. The Chief Minister also directed that the remaining pipeline and distribution work be completed in two months. Residents say the Undri Hilltop societies have still not been brought into the network and remain on tankers. They have also raised concern about water quality, citing a Mohammadwadi society that refused in July to take muddy water from the corporation's network into its tank.

In June 2026 the corporation opened a new tanker filling station in Undri. Residents say this does not answer the basic problem of the lack of a permanent distribution network. Koloti said: "We are not asking for a favour. We only ask that the corporation give the water for which we already get a bill. A tanker filling station is not water supply. It is an admission that there is no water supply."

Buying tanker water has become one of the largest recurring costs for societies. According to figures in the residents' memorandum, a society of about 200 flats could spend about Rs 60 lakh a year on tanker water. That works out to about Rs 30,000 per flat a year, or Rs 2,500 a month, on top of property tax and maintenance. The memorandum estimates that if spending continued at this level for 14 years, a society would have spent about Rs 8.4 crore on tankers, about Rs 5.4 crore of it after the 2017 merger. Residents say this money could have funded permanent arrangements such as storage facilities and a distribution network. They also demand that the water component of property tax be waived or refunded until regular supply begins, and that a funded implementation schedule be announced for Undri Hilltop.

The absence of a sewage system has added another cost. Many societies run their own sewage treatment plants and hire private operators to carry away treated or leftover waste. Residents say some societies pay Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 per trip, with pick-ups roughly every fortnight. By their figures, one society's annual cost comes to about Rs 2.6 lakh to Rs 3.1 lakh. They have asked that existing drainage lines be connected to the working main network, that a schedule for completing the work be announced, and that financial relief be given to societies bearing the extra cost.

Residents have also raised concerns about narrow roads, illegal parking, encroachments and the lack of traffic planning. On October 9, Pune traffic police made the 350-metre stretch between Holewasti and Aryan World School one-way, citing limited road width, illegal parking and two-way traffic. Residents say this added pressure on Kad Nagar, which was already congested. They want roads widened in the Kad Nagar, Undri Chowk and Holewasti link road areas.

On September 29, residents of Undri, Pisoli, Mohammadwadi, Yewalewadi and Kondhwa submitted a memorandum to Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar. They drew attention to accidents, speeding vehicles, missing signals, inadequate patrolling and roads left dug up. They also said some shops encroach on the road and that parking outside commercial establishments causes congestion. They want a police chowky near Raheja Circle, a separate traffic chowky, CCTV cameras in residential areas and accident-prone spots, and regular night patrols. They also want licence conditions and closing times enforced for eateries and hotels, given complaints about late-night activity, noise and parking on residential roads.

Dependence on tankers has also been linked to serious road safety concerns. On April 5, 2026, a speeding water tanker hit a two-wheeler near Cloud Nine on the NIBM Annexe-Mohammadwadi road, killing Ariz Sheikh, 19, a national-level footballer. Two days later, a 22-year-old engineer died in a separate tanker-related accident in Wanowrie, residents say. Pune Police then announced safety conditions for tankers, such as 360-degree cameras or helpers.

On April 15, tanker drivers went on strike in Undri, Mohammadwadi and NIBM, disrupting water supply to societies. The dispute was settled through the mediation of Mayor Manjusha Nagpure, and conditions on cameras and helpers were discussed for resuming service. Residents say tanker rates then rose from about Rs 600 to Rs 800 per trip, with drivers citing the cost of cameras and staff. They allege that despite the higher rates, many tankers run without the required safety arrangements. They estimate that for a society taking 20 tankers a day, the extra Rs 200 per tanker comes to Rs 4,000 a day, or about Rs 14.6 lakh a year. They also pointed to an incident near Kad Nagar chowk on April 19, and one on October 5 near Bishop's School in Kad Nagar, where a tanker crushed the leg of a 27-year-old man.

Retired Army Colonel Pradeep Masand said: "This is a complete failure of law and administration by the Pune traffic police. A boy died, rules were announced, the tanker lobby held the city to ransom, and the outcome was a price hike. Societies pay the surcharge, tankers avoid safety, and the police do not check." Residents have demanded regular checks of tankers entering societies, strict enforcement of the camera and helper conditions, action against drivers who flout the rules, and a refund of the higher safety surcharge where the promised measures are absent.

Residents have also questioned how political representation in Undri is divided. According to their memorandum, the area falls in Ward 41 for municipal administration, but because of Lok Sabha and Assembly constituency boundaries, different parts of the locality fall in constituencies linked to Pune, Baramati and Purandar. They say this makes it hard to identify which elected representative is responsible for local facilities. They also criticise the approval of new construction despite inadequate water supply, drainage and road capacity, and demand a temporary halt on new building permissions until basic infrastructure is in place.

Residents cite the government's quick response to complaints in the Chakan industrial belt as an example. In August 2026, industries in Chakan are said to have raised concerns about potholes and traffic jams and warned of shifting work elsewhere. Senior state leaders then went there and a high-level committee was set up to coordinate infrastructure work by various government agencies. Residents say Undri, too, needs such coordination on water, roads, drainage, police and licensing.

Koloti said: "Chakan's industries threaten to leave and within a week the state government is there. We cannot pick up our homes and move to another state. So our question is, does Undri have to stop the traffic for the Mantralaya to stop ignoring it?" Residents have warned that if there is no concrete response, they will hold a rasta roko at Kad Nagar and Undri Chowk on a working day.

Residents have put forward a charter of eight demands. The first is approval of the development plan: the state urban development department should clarify the status of the October 2025 draft, announce progress on hearings of objections and fix a firm deadline for approval under the MRTP Act. The second is a dedicated task force: a nodal officer should be appointed to coordinate water, roads, drainage, police and permits, with a public monthly review and regular inspections. The third is permanent water and sewage facilities: a funded schedule for a piped network and elevated tank for Undri Hilltop, drainage lines connected to the working network, and relief for those bearing extra costs.

The fourth is local tax collection and spending data: property tax collection and capital expenditure figures for Ward 41 since 2017 should be made public, and a fixed share of the funds reserved for local facilities. The fifth is road widening: roads should be developed to the widths in the draft plan, with priority for Kad Nagar, Undri Chowk and the Holewasti link road. The sixth is removal of encroachments: the corporation and traffic police should run joint drives, enforce rules regularly and make public the permissions given for roadside commercial activity. The seventh is stronger policing: a police chowky near Raheja Circle, a separate traffic chowky, CCTV at key points and more night patrols. The eighth is tanker control: a formal tanker policy with licensed drivers, transparent rates, regular safety checks and action on violations, along with a refund of the Rs 200 safety surcharge where there are no cameras or helpers.

Residents also demand a review of building permissions where basic facilities are absent, and greater clarity on political accountability for Undri. They say that if officials do not act, they will pursue further legal options, including approaching the Bombay High Court for time-bound directions. Their demand is simple: permanent civic facilities, transparent use of public funds and accountability for delay. Nine years after the merger, they say, paying city-level tax while living with village-level facilities and bought water must now end.