No water cut in Nagpur for now as NMC focuses on plugging pipeline leakage

Nagpur residents will not face an immediate water cut for now. Instead of reducing the city's water supply, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has decided to focus on cutting wastage and repairing leaks in pipelines.

The Maharashtra government has directed that water supply be reduced by 10 per cent from October 16. The NMC's decision comes against the backdrop of this directive. Even so, Nagpur will for now continue to receive about 740 million litres a day (MLD) from the Totladoh reservoir and the Kanhan river.

Nagpur gets roughly 740 MLD of water, of which nearly 259 MLD is counted as non-revenue water. That is about 35 per cent of the total water the city receives. Leaks in pipelines, unauthorised tap connections and deficiencies in the distribution system are cited as the causes of this loss.

A 10 per cent cut in the city's current supply would amount to about 74 MLD a day. Rather than reduce supply to households immediately, the corporation has given priority to bringing this loss under control.

To improve the distribution system, the NMC is carrying out leak repair work, and action against unauthorised tap connections is also under way. Conservation measures are being implemented to reduce the wastage of treated drinking water.

The municipal administration has appealed to citizens to use water responsibly and not to waste it needlessly, particularly for washing vehicles and cleaning roads.

The current arrangement will remain as it is for the time being. Before any further decision on water restrictions is taken, the water levels in the reservoirs and the impact of the conservation measures will be assessed.

Whether Nagpur can avoid a water cut will depend on the availability of water stocks and on how successful the efforts to reduce losses in the distribution system prove to be.