Water pipeline bursts at Marine Drive; BMC suspects foul play

MUMBAI: Despite the island city facing water shortage, several litres of water was wasted after a 450 mm-long pipeline running along Marine Drive, burst on Thursday morning.

Hydraulic engineers along with the ward officials were sent to the spot after the pipeline burst around 4pm. The pipeline was repaired by 7am, ward officials said.

A senior civic official said, “The fire hydrant located along the pipeline at Marine Drive was disturbed. We suspect that someone deliberately tried to remove the hydrant, causing the pipeline to burst.”

The official however added that not much of the water was wasted, as the pipeline was repaired quickly.

On Tuesday, residents of A ward (consisting of Colaba, Fort, Cuffe Parade areas) staged a protest at the ward office due to shortage in water supply. Makarand Narvekar, local BJP corporator, said, “Residents of the ward are facing water crisis from the last two weeks. Earlier, the pressure of water supply would be very low. However, after that, most of the houses in the ward stopped receiving water for two to three days.” Meanwhile, there was a 100%water cut in several areas of western suburbs on September 25 due to the hydraulic department’s work on a pipeline. The water cut lasted for nearly two weeks at several places.

The BMC requires 14.47 million litres (ml) water stock after the end of monsoon to last until the next rainfall season. However, there is a current shortage of9%.