Citizens faced water scarcity on festival day

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The 1200 mm water pipeline that quenches the city's thirst burst at Dhorkin at 8 am on Tuesday. It took a total of 26 hours for the municipal corporation to repair the pipeline twice and then fix the electrical panel issue at Jayakwadi. Meanwhile, due to absence of water supply, the elevated storage reservoirs (ESRs) in the city ran dry. On the auspicious day of Ashadhi Ekadashi, citizens had to face water scarcity. Many had to procure private tankers for usage and jars for drinking water. The water supply of the city was postponed by a day.

It may be noted that the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC) supplies water to the city through three pipelines. The largest amongst them has a diameter of 1200 mm and it got damaged near Dhorkin village at 8 am on Tuesday. The municipal corporation completed the repair work by 2.30 pm. During the testing, the civic personnel spotted a leakage near the joint. Hence the civic personnel undertook the repair work again by shutting down the water supply. The section of the pipeline that needed repair was quite fragile. Hence the repairing work was completed at 2 am (on intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday). Later on, the pump at Jayakwadi was about to be started. It was then discovered that there is a technical issue with the electrical panel there. Hence the mechanical section team carried out the repair work. The lifting pump operation at Jayakwadi started today at 10.30 am and water started reaching the city after 1 pm. The city's water supply was shut off for nearly 26 hours.

Ashadhi and Muharram

Citizens observed fasting today. Besides, various programs were organised in the city to mark Ashadhi Ekadashi. Similarly, religious programs were organised in the Muslim-majority areas for Muharram. On this festive day, citizens had to face water scarcity. They had to quench their thirst by ordering private tankers and water jars.

Supply restored in phases

The water reached the city in the afternoon, therefore, the CSMC started the water supply in phases between 3 pm and 4 pm. The areas that could not receive water on Tuesday were supplied today on priority. The municipal corporation officials said that the areas scheduled to receive water on Wednesday would get their supply on Thursday.

Low pressure in some areas

While the water supply through the 1200 mm diameter pipeline was shut down, the old city's 700 mm and the newly laid 900 mm pipelines were operational. These two pipelines supplied 30 to 35 MLD of water to the city. The municipal corporation stated that efforts were made to supply water at very low pressure to some areas.