When the pipeline under Sanjivani Society in Govandi burst on Monday morning, little did the residents know what they were in for.
A pipeline under Sanjivani Society in Anand Nagar, Govandi, burst open with full force early on Monday morning, killing one and injuring 14 others.
The incident occurred at around 4am, when the residents of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) building were asleep. The intensity with which the pipeline burst was so high that it created a pit around six feet deep surrounding it, damaged the floor of many of the rooms on the ground floor, shattered the window panes and caused the defence wall of the seven-storey building to collapse.
Sixty-year-old Devisingh Hazare, who lived on the ground floor, was announced dead on arrival at Shatabdi Hospital in Govandi.
“The sound of the water gushing from the pipeline woke me up Within no time, the water started flooding into our houses. The force with which the water came in was such that Hazare couldn’t make his way out, claiming his life,” said Babasaheb Devkule, a resident.
The 24-inch pipeline, tapped at Ghatla junction from a 72-inch water main from Pise Panjrapol, was situated directly under room number 5 on the ground floor. Devkule claimed that the issue of the pipeline’s location was raised earlier by residents.
“However, the developer assured us that the pipeline would be made defunct, and the water supply diverted. But as you can see, that never happened,” Devkule said.
Civic officials too claimed the pipeline was made defunct. “Water probably kept dripping from the 72-inch main pipeline. Over a period of time, the water level in the small pipeline got saturated and led to an explosion as the air pressure went up,” Arun Kadam, assistant engineer (water works), said.
Another resident, Appasaheb Dhembare, said that the damage could have been worse had the electric cables got wet. “The ground floor was submerged in around 3-4 feet of water. Informing the power supply company in time saved the lives of the 100 families residing here,” Dhembare said.
Meanwhile, the police have registered cases against the developer and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
SRA chief Nirmal Kumar said, “We are going to appoint an IIT-B professor to look into the incident.
The structural stability of the building will be checked. Based on the report, the future course of action will be decided.”
@dna
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