Two more pipe bursts add to parched city’s woes …..Sharad Vyas
Mumbai: Even as the city continued to pay for the recent spate of water pipe bursts, two more cases were reported on Saturday. The BMC officials promised that their work to restore water supply to the city will be completed by Sunday morning, but they added that the additional cut imposed since Thursday would be rolled back a day or two later.
On Saturday, road repair work by the civic body at the Worli City Bakery area led to the burst of a 1.5-inch distribution water line. Though the ruptured pipeline was plugged soon after, supply to several areas in Worli was affected throughout the evening. The second incident occurred at Bhiwandi where the Tansa water main—already under repair—gave way, leading to the wastage of 2 mld of water. The burst was caused due to the fluctuating water pressure in the main even as the BMC officials repaired the pipe that had burst recently. This fresh damage will affect supply to various parts of the western as well as eastern suburbs on Sunday.
Owing to the series of bursts and damages, which began with the rupture of Malad tunnel during Holi followed by the Bhiwandi main and then other pipes at Thane, Mulund and Santa Cruz (W), parts of city went through 100% water cut on Saturday. Apart from an overall 30% cut across the city, water supply was completely cut off in parts of Mulund and Bhiwandi. The corporation’s regular supply of nearly 60 mld of water to Thane was also halved. However, areas that receive supply from the 54-inch distribution line at Santa Cruz, Bandra and Khar, were not affected on Saturday.
The BMC on Friday night completed repairing the pipelines at Santa Cruz (W), Thane and Mulund but recharging work on the 55-km stretch of Tansa main would take another few hours to get over, an official said. According to them, this main often gives way as it is very old and also, negligence of utility contractors adds to the problem.
The 120-km Tansa East and West pipeline was laid by the British in 1927 to supply additional water to city.
* Even as the damaged pipeline in Thane (above) is being repaired, the one at Bhiwandi sprung another leak on Saturday