Villagers carry out pipeline repair in 6-ft deep water

SHAHAPUR: Without water supply for a week, the villagers from Asangaon Gram Panchayat in Shahapur took it upon themselves to repair a broken pipeline by wading through six-foot deep water of the Bharangi River.

The heavy downpour last week led to overflowing of the Bharangi River. A portion of the 10-inch pipeline supplying water to the river was submerged and damaged. The villagers repeatedly requested the Zilla Parishad authorities to repair the pipe. However, when no steps were taken by the authorities, they did it on their own.

In the 2019 floods, the same pipeline was damaged and it took 20 days for the authorities to repair it. The gram panchayat members, water department employees of gram panchayat and youngsters from the village joined hands and repaired it in three days amidst the heavy flow of the river water.

Sharad Farde, a 40-year-old member of Asangaon gram panchayat, said, “The 15-year-old pipeline supplies water to 19,000 residents of our village. In the panchayat, we have a small team that handles water supply issues in the village. However, it is not trained to repair or clean large pipelines. After the experience two years ago, wherein the work was stuck due to approval of funds, we decided to repair it temporarily on our own.”

More than 25 villagers who were good swimmers attached a rope along the 20-foot long pipeline submerged in water.

Water department officer of ZP, Thane, RM Aade, said, “We received complaints last week and we put forward their request to repair the pipe line. Once we get the sanction for the budget to repair the line, we will do it on an immediate basis. They have done temporary repair work as of now with the guidance of our technical team.”

HT PHOTO Villagers from Asangaon Gram Panchayat in Shahapur fix a broken pipeline in six-foot deep water of Bharangi River.