Complaints of Muddy Tap Water Spread Across Pune; PMC Advises Residents to Boil Water
Pune, 15th July 2026: Complaints of muddy and discoloured tap water have spread to several parts of Pune in the aftermath of last week’s heavy rainfall, prompting residents to raise concerns over the safety of the city’s drinking water supply and demand urgent action from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).
Over the past few days, residents from Sinhagad Road, Shivajinagar, Kondhwa, the central city and several Peth areas have reported receiving turbid water through household taps. While the issue initially appeared to be confined to a few localities, complaints have now emerged from multiple parts of the city.
Residents said the change in water quality has triggered fears of possible contamination, while others attributed the problem to the city’s ageing water distribution network. Civic activists pointed to suspected leakages in underground pipelines, saying soil and mud could be entering water supply lines, while residents in parts of the old city flagged poor maintenance of the pipeline network.
The complaints have also revived concerns over locations where potable water pipelines run alongside or intersect drainage lines — an issue that the civic body has acknowledged in the past and one that has repeatedly been flagged by elected representatives.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Tuesday appealed to citizens to boil drinking water before consumption, citing a sharp rise in turbidity of raw water reaching the city’s water treatment plants following heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of the dams supplying water to Pune.
In a public advisory issued by the civic water supply department, PMC said the muddy water entering treatment plants, particularly the Parvati Water Treatment Plant, has exceeded the designed treatment capacity, making it difficult to completely control turbidity.
The civic body, however, clarified that drinking water supplied to households is being fully disinfected before distribution and all prescribed treatment processes are being followed. It said there is no risk of disease-causing microorganisms in the supplied water as adequate disinfection measures are being undertaken.
As an additional precaution, PMC advised residents to allow water to settle for some time and use alum, if required, to help suspended particles settle. Citizens have also been asked to filter the water using a clean cloth or an appropriate filter and boil it before drinking.
