Mumbai
The city will witness reduced water supply after the civic body announced a 20 per cent cut when one of its major pipelines, the Tansa water main, burst in Thane on Saturday afternoon. The water cut will continue until the pipeline is restored — expected by Sunday night, according to civic officials.
Updated : Mar 29, 2015, 06:20 AM IST
The city will witness reduced water supply after the civic body announced a 20 per cent cut when one of its major pipelines, the Tansa water main, burst in Thane on Saturday afternoon. The water cut will continue until the pipeline is restored — expected by Sunday night, according to civic officials.
Why is the pipeline important?
The British-era pipeline is one of the main pipelines that transports water from the Tansa lake to the Bhandup Complex, from where it is distributed to the rest of the city. The century-old, 2400mm pipeline burst near Padwal Nagar in Thane west at around 3.30pm, leading to wastage of hundreds of litres of water that flooded the nearby slum areas.
What about the repair work?
A team of 50 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) employees rushed to the spot soon after to start the repair work. Water supply was cut off to prevent further wastage, and authorities had started draining the floodwater to be able to start repair works.
"We have closed both sides of the pipeline and are ascertaining the extent of the damage. It appears the pipeline burst because it is an old one, even though this is the first time that this part of the pipeline has seen damage," said civic hydraulic engineer Ramesh Bamble, requesting residents to use water sparingly until the pipe is fixed.
What caused the burst?
The slum dwellers who live in the area have been damaging the pipeline, which is very old. Combined with erosion and water pressure, which the pipe could not sustained, it seems to have burst," said Ravindra Khadatale, deputy engineer in Thane Municipal Corporation's water supply department.
Is this a recurring problem?
This is not the first time a Tansa main is experiencing a pipe burst. In September 2014, a main pipeline burst near Tilak Nagar railway station. Another main, an 1800mm Tansa pipeline had burst at Vartak Nagar in Thane in August 2014, leading to wastage of hundreds of litres of water following which the civic body had announced water cuts in various parts of the city. In 2013, the civic body enforced a 50 per cent cut througout the city after the Tansa main burst at three locations outside Mumbai. The pipeline had burst at BMC's Agra Road Valve Complex (ARVC) in Bhiwandi, Chinchwali and Kalyan-Bhiwandi (KB) Bridge areas in rural Thane. The problem was fixed after a struggle of more than 24 hours.
What's the solution?
Work on an underground tunnel, which will replace the Tansa pipeline, is on, said civic hydraulic engineer Bamble. "The Gundavli-Kapurbawdi-Bhandup tunnel is expected to be completed by 2016. The tunnel will replace the old Tansa pipeline," another civic official said.