Mumbai: Did faulty BMC map lead to water pipeline damage?

The pipeline got damaged on Wednesday evening, when Metro 6 piling work was going on. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Those residing on the Jogeshwari-Santacruz stretch did not get their daily water supply on Thursday morning. Later in the day, it emerged that the pipeline supplying water to the area from the Veravali reservoir near Mahakali caves was damaged the previous evening during piling work of Metro line 6. While the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has blamed the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for the problem, the latter is of the opinion that the underground utilities map provided by the civic body might be a faulty one. The map shows the 1,800 mm diameter pipeline to be on the right side of JVLR while the Metro work was being done on the left side.

Even though workers from BMC's water department rushed to the spot and started repair work immediately, they said it would take 24 hours to restore water supply and that it might be done by Friday morning.

The underground utilities map provided by BMC shows the pipeline on the right side of JVLR while Metro work was being done on the left side

Speaking to mid-day, Ajay Rathod, chief of the Hydraulic Department, said, "It is a big pipeline and our team is working hard to restore water supply. It will be done probably by Friday morning." He said that the pipe got damaged most likely due to the Metro construction work.

However, MMRDA spokesperson, B G Pawar, said, "We admit that the pipeline got damaged due to the Metro work, but we are trying to find out why the boring work was going on at that spot."

Another MMRDA official told mid-day that the incident happened due to a faulty map provided by the BMC. Requesting anonymity, the official said, "We always ask for utility maps of all the areas where Metro piling work is going on. The map given by the civic body shows the water pipeline on the right side of the road while Metro work was happening on the left side. How will we come to know whether the pipeline is on the left side if the BMC doesn't know about it?"

When asked about the map, Rathore said, "We haven't checked the map yet. At this time, it is more important to restore water supply and we are doing that on war footing. We will analyse the map later."

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