Eight lakh people had to go without water supply for two days as officials failed to fix snag near a filter plant. The delay in rectification was blamed to lack of cables and necessary equipments. Lack of maintenance of Narmada water supply system only added to people’s woes.
The Narmada water line is now monitored by the civic body, while the private firms that laid the supply line has been dismissed.
On Tuesday, residents managed their household work with stored water. However, as supply remained disrupted on Wednesday too, panic started setting in among the residents. They kept ringing their local representatives and officials throughout the day.
Even overhead water tanks in wards had gone empty on Wednesday. Anyone asking for water tanker was asked to use less water.
The water supply remained suspended in most of the areas with Narmada pipeline. The electricity pole attached to Hirani water filter plant of the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) was damaged after a truck rammed it. But, even after more than 30 hours civic body officials failed to fix the glitch.
The damage is unlikely to be repaired on Thursday as well. The civic body failed to provide any alternative to residents. The areas where water supply remained suspended for two days include Saket Nagar, Shakti Nagar, Piplani, Ayodhya Bypass, areas in zone 17, 18 Karond, Baghmughalia, Misrod and adjoining quarters.
No maintenance guarantee sought from firms
Former corporator Girish Sharma said that BMC officials had released payments of firms engaged in Narmada water supply but they did not seek guarantee of maintenance. Now, if there is a glitch the water supply remains suspended for days due to lack of supervision. Sharma said water supply system for Narmada involves three firms and they should be summoned to supervise the functioning for three years.
