In the wake of the ongoing row over the appointment of consultants for the 24X7 water supply plan for the city, municipal commissioner Praveensinh Pardeshi clarified his stand that the proposed scheme was necessary as it is for the benefit of Pune. Addressing media persons on Thursday, the commissioner said, "This is an opportunity to bring a solution to the erratic water supply, which should not be missed.' Those who wanted to approach the court regarding the appointment of consultants for the project were free to do so, Pardeshi added. He also said the Pune Municipal Corporation's (PMC) legal adviser's opinion that the work cannot be handed over to a private agency, "is given in a hasty manner, without taking into account the records regarding this and by coming under pressure." He said, "At present, water supply is being done manually in the city. We have to face some problems like inequitable water supply and improper water pressure. Hence, if we go for the 24X7 water supply scheme, these problems will be solved. The consulting agency will get five per cent of the total project cost for the implementation of the project. Thereafter, for each subsequent year, the agency will get 0.9 per cent fees for keeping a check on the whole system." The 24X7 water supply scheme entails survey of the present water supply situation, stopping leakages in the water supply, install water meters and so on. For this, the PMC had invited bids for the appointment of consultants, It is actually a consortium of many private agencies. Questions had been raised if it is legal to appoint a group of agencies, that is a consortium, for this task. The PMC's legal adviser too said that such an appointment was not appropriate. Regarding the legal adviser's comment that the appointment of a consortium is not legal, he said, "The comment has been passed without meticulously going through the documents concerned,' he said.