Pune: Over 3,000 residents of leprosy colony in Antulenagar of Kondhwa, many of whom are disabled, are in dire straits as PMC is yet to provide them with water tap connections in spite of installing 10 water tanks in the area.The residents cannot fetch water by themselves due to various physical disabilities. And that is why they need tap connections in their houses.Besides, the water tanks are placed along the roads without any pipeline. Each tank can store only 1,000 litres of water, which lasts barely two hours after refilling by tankers every day, said colony resident Satish Sawant who is also the president of Apang Leprosy Punarvasan, an NGO working for leprosy survivors.On some days, only six of the water tanks are filled, while the others remain empty, the residents alleged. It is on a first come, first served basis that we get water. Each lane has at least 24 houses, with each family comprising five to six people. The families that are close to the tank get the water first. By the time, people staying farther away reach the tank, it is empty, said a leprosy survivor.The residents blamed their situation to sheer negligence and lack of care from PMCs end, besides stigma attached to the leprosy. We have increased the supply duration and also given out many individual connections. Plastic water tanks are also placed along the roads for the residents benefit. I will direct my staffers to monitor the situation and take further steps to improve the supply further, said Aniruddha Pawaskar, superintending engineer, PMC water supply department.More than a month ago, PMC had inspected the area after hearing the residents pleas. They had then reduced the heights of the existing taps with the pipe of each tap also reduced to half-an-inch. The residents said the reduced pipe width meant poor water pressure for the residents as they were anyway getting supply every alternated day.The taps are located so close to the ground that people cannot even keep buckets and tins under them. PMC officials had promised the residents that they would be provided water with optimum pressure, for which five to six families would have to depend on one tap. All the people are now stuck sitting at the few functional taps waiting for water. They also pay property tax with water charges, then why are no facilities provided to them? colony resident Sawant asked.

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