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India's Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad impose water cuts as delayed monsoon depletes dams
Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Ludhiana, Pune and Nagpur are facing drinking water shortages that may worsen due to uncertainties of southwest monsoon this year
- PUBLISHED: Mon 15 Jun 2026, 4:16 PM
Worried about delayed rains and depleting water sources, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has announced alternate day water supplies and shutting down of swimming pools and vehicle washing centres from Monday.
The neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) also has stringent water cuts in force. The two cities have a total population of 7.5 million people.
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Pune gets its water supply from half a dozen dams in the surrounding area. The Maharashtra Water Resources Department informed the civic body that it has to slash water consumption to ensure that it gets supplies till the end of August. The city usually gets 1,600 million litres of water per day (MLD), but supplies have now been reduced to 1,100 MLD.
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Naval Kishore Ram, the city’s municipal commissioner, said the water cuts were being introduced in a phased manner. He has also directed housing societies to operate sewage treatment plants and deploy recycled water for non-potable use. Hotels, restaurants and commercial establishments have been told to adopt similar measures.
The civic chief referred to the India Meteorological Department’s warning of several parts of India likely to get just 90 to 95 per cent of rainfall this monsoon season. According to the department, the southwest monsoon has become weak and has stalled 200 km from Pune.
The phenomenal growth of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad in recent years have seen many new housing colonies depending on water that is brought daily in tankers to meet the needs of residents. In many localities, residents have been getting piped water on alternate dates.
With Mumbai too experiencing depleting water levels in lakes, the civic authorities are planning to rejuvenate two lakes (Bhujale and Kamal) in the suburbs.
India’s commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, who is also an elected parliamentarian from north Mumbai, recently inspected the two lakes and said the government would rejuvenate them to enhance water supplies to the city.
According to the Central Water Commission, levels in 166 major reservoirs in eight states had dipped below 40 per cent of capacity before May. Major Indian cities including Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Ludhiana, Pune and Nagpur are facing formidable drinking water shortages, which are likely to worsen because of uncertainties relating to the southwest monsoon this year.
