Water supply disrupted for 19 hours due to pipeline burst

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: While the entire municipal administration and political leaders were busy with vote counting from 10 am on Friday, a major water pipeline supplying water to the city from Jayakwadi burst, resulting in a complete disruption of water supply across the city. Repair work on the pipeline was taken up on a war footing and was completed at 5 am on Saturday. Water supply to the city resumed at around 10 am. The city remained without water for nearly 19 hours. On the very first day in their prabhags, newly elected corporators had to face complaints from citizens due to the water shortage.

The city’s water supply largely depends on a 1,200 mm diameter pipeline. If this pipeline shuts down, nearly 75 per cent of the city’s water supply is affected. The pipeline burst on Friday morning, leading to its shutdown. Although the 900 mm and 700 mm diameter pipelines continued to function, the water supplied through them was insufficient to meet the city’s demand. Since the 1,200 mm pipeline burst near the Jayakwadi pumphouse at a sloping location, water accumulated in the area and it took considerable time to drain it before repair work could begin. Thereafter, repairs were carried out.

The repair work was undertaken throughout the night under the supervision of in-charge executive engineer Kiran Dhande, deputy engineer M M Baviskar, junior engineers Ashish Vani and Subhash Lohade, along with the contractor’s workers. The work was completed at 5 am on Saturday. After the water reservoirs were fully filled, priority water supply was given after 2 pm on Saturday to localities that did not receive water on Friday. Similar adjustments will be made on Sunday to cover the gap. Kiran Dhande said that some localities may receive water a day late.