The residents of Kharadi Housing Societies Welfare Association, Pune, filed a case at the Kharadi Police Station near the World Trade Center, Kharadi, regarding the supply of contaminated water by a water tanker vendor to a society.

The society in Kharadi has around 840 flats with 300 residents. The residents wrote a letter to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) highlighting the serious incident of endangering the lives of thousands of residents by supplying contaminated water. The residents in their letter demanded the implementation of audit and control measures on the usage of water from the identified STP plant.

Speaking to The Free Press Journal, one of the residents of the society, on the condition of anonymity, said, "Due to inadequate water supply provided by PMC, our society, just like other societies in Kharadi, orders drinking and utility water from water tanker vendors. Our society builder had signed a contract with a water supplier. As the society is paying regular charges to water tanker vendors, the vendor is expected to deliver good quality drinking and utility water. But what we have discovered is that the vendor delivered water on December 18 from a sewage treatment plant (STP), which has resulted in severe health hazards among our residents. We have filed a police case against the vendor. We request an immediate investigation and appropriate action against the supplier responsible for delivering this contaminated water."

Another resident, who wished to remain anonymous because of the water tanker mafia's nexus and previous incidents of harassment, said, "Water is an essential commodity, so we don't want to mess with that." "With the help of local MLA support and residents' complaints, PMC visited the society for further investigation. Upon investigation of the society and STP plant, adequate evidence was gathered, and it was discovered that the tanker vendor was reportedly using water from the sewage treatment plant for domestic supply to the society. PMC officials have agreed to take action against the violators by implementing regulations on STP water supply, and they also assured us they would provide a PMC water line to reduce water tanker dependency. We are waiting for further action," he added.

Reportedly, the residents claim they are falling ill frequently due to the consumption of this contaminated water. Around 85 per cent of people in the society have fallen ill in the past 15 days, they add.

Regarding the matter, Nitin Jadhav, Junior Engineer, PMC, said, "After receiving the complaint, we conducted an inspection and found that the private water supplier was providing water from the STP plant. This falls under the drainage department, but we still looked into it because it's related to drinking water. We will be taking strict action against the supplier."