The 24-hour water supply shutdown taken by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) to facilitate the shifting of the Morbe Main Pipeline at Chikhale for the Karjat-Panvel Railway line and crossing of the water supply mainline at Diva-Panvel Railway line below the Expressway bridge at Kalamboli turned out to be a nightmare for residents of Navi Mumbai as even after 48 hours, the water supply was not restored fully. Areas, where the water supply resumed on Wednesday morning, were muddy.
The shutdown was taken from 10 am on April 10 to 10 am on April 11 and the water supply was supposed to be resumed by Tuesday evening. However, the work shifting pipeline and maintenance at the Bhokhadpada water treatment plant could not be completed till the evening of Tuesday. According to City Engineer, Sanjay Desai, the work was completed by around 8 pm and the pumping of water was resumed.
People bought bottled water for daily needs
Divya Vaibhaw Gaikwad, a former corporator from Vashi said that she received a message from the civic engineering department around 11 pm on Tuesday, that the water could only be restored by Wednesday morning. “The water supply in a few parts of Vashi was restored,” said Gaikwad.
Mrs. Kamal Deokar, a resident of Vashi said that there was no water in the kitchen and washroom. “We had to buy bottled water for daily needs,” said Deokar.
Multiple areas face water cuts till Wednesday evening
But there were many areas that continued to face water cuts till Wednesday evening. Priyanka Sinha, a resident of sector 8 in Nerul said that after Sunday evening, there was no water supply till Wednesday evening. “It was a nightmare for us as there was no water for basic needs,” she said.
Bharat Jadhav, a former corporator from Seawoods said that the water supply was restored but with low pressure.
Residents of Koparkhairane said that they received muddy water which was of no use. “The water supply started on Wednesday morning but it was muddy and so we did not store it,” said a resident of Bonkode village in Koparkhairane.
Officials say work took a little more time than expected
The water crisis spilled into the third day on Wednesday as the people's cup of sorrows overflowed, said NatConnect Foundation director B N Kumar. He added that strangely though, one could find water tankers at places such as Teen Taaki, the water reservoirs of NMMC. Some tanker operators were apparently sourcing the water from NMMC itself, Kumar alleged.
A senior NMMC official said that the work took a little more time than expected and the water supply was restored on Tuesday night. “Since the pipeline was empty, there was low pressure. In addition, due to air in the pipeline, there was difficulty in water supply which had been rectified by Wednesday evening,” said the official.
