Huge pipeline crack behind water shortage in Juhu

A big crack in the pipeline is found in theu00c3u0082u00c2u00a0creek between Ajivasan School and SNDT college. Pic/Bipin Kokate

A massive crack in a water pipeline that sits right behind a BMC notice etched in stone, urging residents to save water, is leading to taps in Juhu running dry for over three months now. Alert citizen and local resident Larson Fernandes, who scrutinised the locality to pinpoint the reason behind the water shortage, ended up identifying three spots on Juhu Tara Road.

"While two of them were on the main road and clearly visible, the biggest leak was found in the pipe passing through the creek between Ajivasan School and SNDT college, with gallons of water flowing into the sea," Larson said, adding that it is difficult to tell if the pipe is broken or simply corroded since "someone has tied a plastic sheet with a coir rope around it to minimise leakage." It is clearly not very effective though and Larson has been following up with the civic authorities over this for a month now.

Shirley Coutinho, another local, said that the area has been facing water shortage for close to a year with the last two months being particularly difficult. Ashok Tavadia, hydraulic engineer from BMC's H West office, said that immediate steps will be taken to repair or replace the broken water pipeline. Local municipal councillor Hetal Gala said that some water leakages in the area have been fixed in the last couple of days and that repair work on the others would be initiated at the earliest.

Pipeline bursts add to water woes
At a time when the city is reeling under a 10 percent water cut, water pipeline leakages are making matter worse. Mazgaon's Tadwadi area recently witnessed one such incident with the BMC now racing against time to fix a 600 mm diametre pipeline connected to the Bhandarwada water reservoir. The pipeline burst also led to waterlogging in the area apart from water wastage.

Ward officials have barricaded the road and begun repair work on war footing. "We are trying to fix the pipeline and the leakage before Wednesday's supply time and are thus not declaring any water cut," a senior civic official said.

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