Indian Express 17.08.2010
Drive to fix pipelines has miles to go
Stuti Shukla Tags : water contemination, mumbai water pipeline burst case, mumbai Posted: Tue Aug 17 2010, 23:57 hrs
As residents continue to complain of water contamination, but a programme to replace old pipes has crawled
Mumbai: As residents continue to complain of water contamination and ‘transition losses’ eat away 20 per cent of the city’s daily supply, a programme to replace old pipes has crawled. The BMC in 2005 identified 4,000 km of leaky pipelines in need of repair or replacement, but has only replaced 10 per cent (412.20 km) and repaired 8 per cent (308.56 km), data from its hydraulic engineering department show.Wear and tear of these old pipelines, some nearly 100 years old, and old sewer lines running parallel to these old pipelines frequently cause contaminated water to reach homes.
Since 2005, the BMC has spent Rs 480 crore on the work done, while an additional provision of Rs 117.62 crore has been sanctioned in this year’s budget. Water supply augmentation projects constitute 33 per cent of the total estimated capital expenditure of Rs 8250.92 crore for 2010-11.
An executive engineer in the HE department said the pace has been slow in the past two years as contractors have refused to work citing high costs. “All new pipelines are to be of mild steel. In the past two to three years, the price of steel has been rising steadily. Contractors argue they cannot complete the work within the funds allocated,” said the engineer.
Another reason cited is the long procedure of requiring a no-objection certificate from the traffic department. S Maheshwari, deputy hydraulic engineer, said in many places, water mains run beneath roads that carry heavy traffic. “Permission is required to excavate on such roads and doesn’t come along easily at most times,” sad Maheshwari.
Encroachment by slumdwellers is another concern. “Removal of encroachments requires a long bureaucratic procedure. Settlements that have come up before 1995 cannot be removed without alternative rehabilitation,” added Maheshwari.
The civic body also sanctioned an additional Rs 132.21 crore in April to hand over the job of detecting leakages and repairing them to 16 private contractors for a period of one year. The work is yet to begin.
