The Times of India                       13.03.2013 

Diamond City parched

SURAT: While residents in some of the areas in the Diamond City have started to face problem of water shortage with the onset of summer season, the municipal authorities are letting water go waste by ignoring the leakages in water pipeline network.

If the official record from Surat Municipal Corporation's (SMC) hydraulic department is any indication then around 125 million litres per day (MLD) of water meant for drinking and other requirements of the residents is wasted due to minor and major leakages in the underground water pipelines and valves at the pumping stations.

The loss takes place by way of leakage through the old and rusted pipelines both above and below the ground, loose valves and unauthorized water connections.

While some councillors claimed that the loss through leakages was as high as 30 per cent, SMC officials maintained that it was not more than 20 per cent. Although, there is no official figure on leakage, it has been estimated that of the total water the civic body draws from Tapi river, five per cent is lost during filtration process while another 10-15 per cent due to leakage in tanks and pipelines.

According to officials, though the department repairs surface pipelines, it is difficult for them to detect underground leakage. Also, the civic body has no maps of the old pipeline network, which makes it difficult to carry out repair works.

Prakash Desai, independent councilor, said, "Elsewhere people are not getting water to drink and there is no mechanism whatsoever to prevent more than 100 mld water going waste. Time and again we have raised our concerns in this regard, but the civic authorities are yet to plug these leakages."

The civic body has covered around 93 per cent of the 45 lakh population under the piped network. The water is drawn from Tapi river from four water works namely Rander, Varachha, Katargam and Sarthana.

NG Parekh, executive engineer (hydraulic), told TOI, "We have been regularly attending major leakage in the water pipeline reported from the city areas, but there are minor leakages underground, which are difficult to attend to."