The Indian Express 26.08.2013
BMC temporarily restores Marine Drive stretch
that caved in Saturday after a major pipeline burst, was temporarily
restored by BMC Sunday. The stretch, which sees heavy traffic, has been
restored with paver blocks. Rebuilding a concrete road would take at
least three to four days.
The Rs 94-crore project of the underground water tunnel from
Malabar Hill reservoir to Cross Maidan in Churchgate was completed in
January. However, some of the cross connections from the existing
networks to the new pipelines are yet to be completed.
The hydraulic engineering department has already sent a letter to
the traffic police seeking permission to undertake the work in October,
said Ramesh Bambale, an engineer at the department. “Because it is an
important stretch, there has been a delay on the part of traffic police
in giving us permission to carry out the work. Old pipelines will be
discarded and water supply will be shifted to the new tunnel. Cross
connection is required on at least six of the pipelines. The Dhobi Talao
outlet that burst on Saturday is one of them,” said Bambale.
The 32-inch pipeline burst on Saturday caused flooding and
traffic snarls on the road throughout Saturday. There was heavy
congestion on the stretch from Wilson College to Charni Road station,”
said R Sayyed, assistant engineer (water department) of the D-Ward.
Additional police commissioner (traffic) Brijesh Singh said the
two lanes that were cordoned off will be opened to traffic soon.
The underground pipeline that burst was repaired late Saturday
evening. The water supply resumed from Sunday morning, officials from
the hydraulic engineering department of BMC said.
