MUMBAI: The supply of water in the entire Mumbai region was affected on Sunday after heavy rainfall inundated the Bhandup water complex, which houses Asia's biggest water treatment plant. The damage was largely confined to the water treatment plant's master control centre, officials said.
"The failure happened due to heavy post-midnight rainfall. The BMC is checking whether the systems at the control centre that are waterlogged are functional. The water supply will resume after this," said an official of the BMC's Hydraulic engineer department.
The department on late Sunday evening claimed that the water supply in the majority of areas in the city has been restored.
"Due to the inundation of rainwater in the Bhandup Water Purification Complex, the Filtration and Pumping plants at the complex had to be shut down. Result: the water supply in most parts of Mumbai was disrupted," an official said
The rainwater had to be literally pumped out manually and the filtration and pumping system was cleaned, officials said. "Necessary repairs were made after inspecting the plant. After this, all the necessary technical procedures were followed and the pumps were started phase-wise. As soon as the plant started, the water level in Bhandup Main Reservoir started rising too. Since then, the water supply has been restored in many parts of the city, including the western suburbs, since evening," said a senior official from the civic Hydraulic engineer department.
However, residents of western suburbs and the island city area are likely to get supply at less pressure and there may also be turbidity in the water, officials informed
The official added: "Efforts to restore Mumbai's water supply was made on a war footing. We urge the citizens to boil potable water before consuming it. The water supply will be normal by Monday. However, it is likely that there will be turbidity in the water and Mumbaikars are advised to boil the water before using it,” Ajay Rathore chief hydraulic engineer of BMC said.
