From March 20 onwards, residents across Panvel will face a scheduled water shutdown one day a week as the Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC) grapples with dwindling supplies. This move, which will impact over 3 lakh residents, aims to conserve water amid falling levels in the Dehrang dam that now struggles to meet demand until the monsoon arrives.

PMC has introduced a detailed timetable outlining water cuts for different regions on specific days. Presently, Panvel requires around 32 million litres per day (MLD) of water. Of this, 15 MLD is sourced from Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP), 5 MLD from MIDC, and the remaining 12 MLD comes from the PMC-owned Appasaheb Vedak dam.

Frequent power outages and technical failures exacerbate the supply issues from both MJP and MIDC, forcing greater reliance on the already strained Dehrang dam.

Water flow from MJP’s Patalganga River declines on Sundays and Mondays, worsening the situation, said Vilas Chavan, deputy engineer (water supply) at PMC.

To address these challenges, the PMC has implemented the following schedule:

• Friday: Gol Water Treatment Plant (WTP) ESR areas
• Saturday: ESR areas at Gangaram Theatre
• Monday: Market Yard, Vegetable Market, and Chaukani WTP ESRs
• Tuesday: Patel Mohalla and Pioneer ESRs
• Wednesday: HOC ESR
• Thursday: Thana Naka ESR will have no supply

Along with these measures, a new water pipeline is being installed under Phase 3 of the Nhava Sheva project to repair leaks from the old, rusted system. Additionally, work on the pump house, which sources water from the Patalganga River, is tentatively scheduled for completion by April.