Mumbai: The BMC has recently received numerous complaints about leakage and water contamination. As the civic body undertakes the concretisation of roads throughout the city and its suburbs, the risk of damage to existing underground pipelines has increased. To tackle this pressing issue, the BMC has decided to replace old and lay new pipelines wherever necessary in conjunction with the ongoing roadwork.
Last month, a tender was issued for the island city, covering the stretch from Colaba to Mahim. Following that, on Friday, the BMC invited a separate tender for laying new pipelines in Govandi, Chembur, Bhandup, Vikhroli, Mulund, Kurla-Sakinaka, and Ghatkopar areas. This vital infrastructure project is expected to be completed within the next two years. The civic body will be spending Rs 117 crores on work in the island city and Rs 165 crores in the eastern suburbs.
Statement Of A Senior Civic Official
"The current water shortage in some of the areas is due to leakages. Several old underground pipelines are facing the issue of leakages. If they are not replaced, frequent excavations will be necessary for their repairs. So, the hydraulic engineering department will carry out replacing such pipelines simultaneously while carrying out concretisation of roads," said a senior civic official.
In a recent meeting, the municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani warned that digging for repairs of utility services will not be allowed after the concretisation of roads.
The BMC supplies 3.950 million litres of water per day, while the demand has reached up to 4,463 million litres. Around 34% of water is lost due to leakages, evaporation, pilferage, and theft. The civic body provides water to the city from lakes located in the Thane and Nasik districts through a pipeline network of approximately 5,000 km that spans the city. To prevent leakages and contamination, the BMC has laid down a tunnel network of 95 km, with work on another 20 km currently in progress.
