A week after it was shut down due to a leakage, the newly restored Flora Fountain was reopened on Saturday night. BMC officials said two leaks were identified and “fixed permanently”.
The Grade I heritage structure was restored and inaugurated on January 24, but was closed three days later. Civic officials had told The Hindu that they suspected two leakages: one at the connection point of two pipes and another at a valve a little distance away.
On Saturday, officials said both leaks had been fixed. While the water flow has been redone, the defunct valve was removed entirely.
“A new clamp shell was put around the defective portion of the nine-inch pipe with rubber packing sheet and with new threaded coupling. The pump is now providing the water from the ground level trough through a two-inch pipe to the old nine-inch pipe. It is supplying water to the fountain spouts at all levels in the monument,” Kiran Bhavsar, consultant conservationist, said. While the first leak was fixed on Wednesday, another opened up behind the valve. “The defective valve was removed,” he said.
A civic official said the most challenging task was to remove the joints filled with lead casting, in addition to the nut bolts. “Removing all of it without damaging the operative part of the line was difficult. It was carefully supported by concrete weight when the defective 150-year-old valve was dislodged,” a civic official said.
While the fountain will shut down around 10.30 every night, it will resume after 7 a.m. every day, till the work on the second phase of the restoration is finished. “These timings are temporary. We want people to see and enjoy the feel. Once the second phase is restored, we will decide a final time,” the civic official said.
