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Water Supply

How one borewell cost many suburbs their water

Wednesday, 17 February 2010 06:19 administrator
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Hindustan Times 17.02.2010

How one borewell cost many suburbs their water

In a first-of-its-kind incident, a water tunnel going from Liberty Garden to Charkop was punctured while an illegal borewell was being dug in Malad on Saturday.

The 12-km tunnel, which supplies water to Malad, Goregaon, Kandivli and Jogeshwari, is around 240 feet below the ground. The incident occurred on Malad Marve Road, where a one-storied structure was being constructed. The borewell was being dug inside this construction site.

“This is very serious. The ward’s water department registered a police complaint. Two people were arrested,” said Deputy Municipal Commissioner Dinesh Gondalia. When the two realised they had damaged the tunnel, they haphazardly sealed the crack. When water was seen oozing out of this seal, the ward office was informed.

“We will have to re-excavate the area, and pass a camera through the tunnel to know the exact extent of damage. Only then can we repair it,” said Vinay Deshpande, chief hydraulic engineer. He added that water supply to the area will be affected until repair work is complete.

Anil Diggikar, additional municipal commissioner, said the city cannot afford a repeat of such a breach, because over the next two years, most of Mumbai’s water pipelines will be replaced by tunnels of massive capacity.

“A punctured water tunnel is expensive to fix and we lose a lot of water. Even a small crack can affect supply to many areas,” said Diggikar, pointing out that the tunnel from Malabar Hill to Cross Maidan is only 70 feet below the ground, placing it at great risk from such random digging.

Diggikar said these tunnels are constructed at a cost of several hundred crores. To avoid a repeat puncture anywhere else in the city, the civic body plans to make it a lot harder to get permission to dig borewells, and is considering fixing a maximum depth up to which they can be dug.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 17 February 2010 06:26
 

WR does its bit for city’s water crisis

Wednesday, 17 February 2010 06:10 administrator
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Hindustan Times 17.02.2010

WR does its bit for city’s water crisis

To deal with the city’s water scarcity, Western Railway (WR) is planning to dig borewells from Churchgate to Virar.

“We have invited tenders for the digging of borewells, because we would rather share the burden than put pressure on the municipal corporation,” said WR’s chief PRO S Gupta.

It is estimated that 60-70 borewells will be needed across the city. “We will gradually have tenders for other areas too, to meet the need for non-potable water for washing and other purposes at stations,” Gupta added. By March-end, WR will select a private contractor, who will then have three months to dig the borewells.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) earlier supplied around two lakh litres of water to the railways and other bulk consumers. Two months ago, they sent these consumers a circular asking them to arrange for alternate sources of water for non-potable use.

Borewell water will be needed for WR’s officers’ quarters at Mumbai Central, as well as their headquarters at Churchgate station.

Apart from platforms, tracks and toilets, both blocks of the railway hospital at Mumbai Central will also be served by these borewells. The cost of digging these borewells is around Rs 63 lakh, which could increase if more borewells need to be dug across the suburban line.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 17 February 2010 06:18
 

Slum rehabilitation: no water for Kurla L ward

Tuesday, 16 February 2010 09:55 administrator
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Indian Express 16.02.2010

Slum rehabilitation: no water for Kurla L ward

Shashank Shekhar Tags : Slum rehabilitation, mumbai Posted: Tuesday , Feb 16, 2010 at 0011 hrs

Slums
Slum rehabilitation
Mumbai:n the wake of the ongoing water crisis, the Hydraulic Engineering Department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has suspended no-objection certificates (NOC) for water supply to buildings meant to rehabilitate slumdwellers around the airport. This was revealed in a reply to a RTI application filed by BJP leader Parag Alavani.

Alavani had filed the application to enquire the water requirements of the area after over 15,000 families from around the airport shift in Kurla’s ‘L’ ward as a part of airport rehabilitation scheme. “The NOC for water supply into the Slum Rehabilitation Authority buildings has been suspended for the time being because of the water shortage,” said Assistant Engineer (L ward), Arjit War. According to War, the suspension of the NOC can only be revoked as and when the water situation improves in the area.

The first phase of the slum rehabilitation scheme is being undertaken by Housing Development Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) to rehouse those living on airport land. Over 80,000 families have been living in slums and encroached upon 276 acres of airport’s land. According to the RTI reply, Kurla’s ‘L’ ward has a total of 22,596 domestic connections, 2,118 commercial and 426 industrial connections. While the total water requirement of the area is 300 million litres per day (MLD), the actual supply here is between 150 and 200 MLD leading to acute water shortage for the L ward residents. According to the reply, there would be an additional requirement of 38,23,365 litres water per day in the area after the residents shift.

“Only if monsoons are good this year will the situation improve. Without the NOC, new occupants may not be able to shift here. So the shifting also could be delayed till after the monsoons,” Alavani added.

“Kurla is in a very bad shape and there is acute water shortage. If new connections are given, it will further aggravate the crisis,” said BJP corporator Sitaram Tiwary from L ward. According to Tiwary, when additional 8,000 families were rehabilitated to Sangharsh Nagar in Chandivali (which is located between Saki Naka and Powai) three years ago, the BMC had not increased the water supply of that area.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 16 February 2010 10:01
 
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