Mumbai: Negligence by a road contractor hired by CIDCO is being cited as the reason for the water pipeline rupture at Kamothe on Saturday. The damage to the pipeline occured at 11 a.m., leading to 20 lakh litres of water meant for Navi Mumbai being wasted.
The force of the water’s flow caused a 30-foot plume next to the Sion-Panvel Highway. Water to Navi Mumbai comes from Morbe Dam, and is processed at the Bhokarpada water treatment plant. The rupture was on the main line coming towards Navi Mumbai from the treatment plant.
A Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) officer said Girish Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. had been contracted for road work at Kamothe. His workers were using a Poclain excavator that accidentally ruptured the pipeline.
Mohan Sonawane, executive engineer, Morbe Dam, said, “The impact displaced the valve leading to wastage of around 2.5 million litres per day (MLD) of 392 MLD supplied to Navi Mumbai. Repairs were started immediately and supply from the treatment plant was stopped within 15 minutes, so a lot of water was saved. Water supply for the stretch from CBD Belapur to Airoli was affected in the evening. It will resume on Sunday morning, but pressure will be low. We will be claiming compensation from CIDCO for losses incurred including repairing charges. There is a procedure to finalise the amount of compensation, and we will soon initiate it.”
Sharada Zore, a resident of Sector 14, Nerul, said, “The morning supply is not enough for the entire day; we need the evening supply. Our daily routing was affected. I hope things normalise on Sunday.”
