Severe Drought and Rising Evaporation Force Deployment of 200 Water Tankers Across Pune Division

Over 320,000 citizens and 140,000 livestock across the Pune division are currently dependent on emergency water supply through tankers as intensifying heatwaves accelerate reservoir evaporation rates.

June 1, 2026 | Pune: A scorching summer has pushed the regional administration to deploy 200 water tankers across Pune division to supply critical drinking water to 208 villages and 776 hamlets. According to official data released by the divisional commissioner’s office, the emergency relief operation is currently sustaining 320,280 citizens and 140,826 livestock across affected belts. Interestingly, despite the widespread regional distress, administrative records confirm that not a single village in the Kolhapur and Sangli districts has required water tankers so far this season.

The crisis has been building since March, with peak summer temperatures hovering between 40 and 42 degrees Celsius across the division, causing massive water evaporation in dams, reservoirs, and wells. In response, the State Water Supply Department has mandated that remaining water reserves in all small, medium, and large-scale projects be reserved exclusively for drinking purposes. To supplement the tanker network, the administration has officially acquired 164 private wells and borewells across the region. Pune district leads these acquisitions with 87 sources including 25 in Ambegaon taluka alone followed closely by Satara district with 62 acquired sources.

The localized impact data highlights severe vulnerability in specific blocks. Satara district’s drought-prone Maan taluka has emerged as the worst-affected sub-region, requiring a maximum deployment of 38 tankers to cater to 44 villages, 260 hamlets, 60,181 residents, and 47,807 livestock. Similarly, in Pune district, Junnar taluka is heavily reliant on emergency aid, with 25 tankers actively distributing water across 28 villages and 95 hamlets to sustain nearly 40,000 citizens.

With regional water levels depleting daily due to the extreme heat index, the divisional commissioner has issued strict guidelines urging urban and rural populations to practice absolute water conservation. While the current resource management plan has successfully averted a total supply collapse in critical zones, the administration remains on high alert, continuously monitoring localized scarcity parameters to expand the tanker network if the heatwave conditions persist well into the pre-monsoon week.

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