700-mm width old pipeline gets burst in Bidkin

- Taps to go dry for two days in the city; repairing work to extend till Thursday afternoon.

Lokmat News Network

Aurangabad, Sept 14:

The taps in the city are likely to go dry for two days, on Friday and Saturday, as the 700-mm size main pipeline supplying water to the old city burst at a distance away from Bidkin (on Paithan road) on Tuesday midnight.

The water supply section of the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) undertook the task of repairing the damage, but the works may continue till Thursday afternoon as the ground staff is facing hurdles in repairing the damage due to the presence of black soil near the pipeline.

It is learnt that the lifting of water through the 700 mm pipeline was underway on Tuesday at 10 pm. However, due to fluctuation in the pressure, the old pipeline got burst. The civic authorities immediately stopped the lifting of water from the source (Jayakwadi Dam). In the meantime, a standing pool of water got formed near the damaged spot. As a result, the civic personnel dig an outlet so that the clogged water gets paved away.

It may be noted that the pipeline is passing through farmland near Farshi Nullah at Bidkin. Besides, the agri-land got slurry due to excessive rainfall in the vicinity. Hence the AMC first built a temporary approach road by spreading murum for the mobility of JCB poclain. However, due to the wetland, the JCB’s jaw was getting stuck frequently. Hence the speed of digging works got slow but continued till 4 pm today (Wednesday). A patch of 6 feet of the pipeline has been damaged due to sudden bursting. The AMC will start to seal the damages through welding and it will consume much time. Hence the task may go on till Thursday afternoon. During this period, the functioning of the 700 mm pipeline will remain defunct, but the supply of water will continue through the 1400 mm size pipeline to Cidco-Hudco and its surrounding localities will remain unaffected.

The AMC’s deputy engineer (water supply) Kiran Dhande said, “ The water lifted through old and new water supply scheme (700 mm and 1400 mm pipelines) is deposited in Nakshatrawadi MBR after treatment. Later on, through Feeder Line, the water is supplied to all the elevated storage reservoirs (ESRs) of the city for distribution to the citizens as per the schedule (on a rotation basis). Meanwhile, the flow of water will be in less quantity and the city ESRs will take much time to get filled up to their capacities. Hence many parts of the city may either get water with low pressure; receive late by 4-5 hours than the regular supply schedule or some areas may receive water late by one day.”