A significant leak in the primary water pipeline supplying Navi Mumbai and parts of Panvel led to a major disruption in water services on Thursday. The incident prompted an immediate shutdown of the supply system for urgent repairs, affecting lakhs of residents across the region.
Pipeline Breakdown and Immediate Response
The crisis began when the 2,050 mm diameter main water supply line from Morbe Dam developed a leak near the Bhokarpada Water Treatment Plant. This crucial pipeline is responsible for transporting water to the areas under the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) and a section of the Panvel Municipal Corporation. Authorities were forced to halt water supply from the plant abruptly to address the issue.
Repair work commenced on a war footing at 11 am on Thursday. The water treatment plant system remained shut down from 11:30 am to 4 pm to facilitate the emergency repairs. Additional City Engineer of NMMC, Arvind Shinde, described the incident as a sudden breakdown at a critical point in the supply system.
Impact on Water Supply and Restoration Timeline
The disruption had an immediate and widespread impact. Water supply to the entire NMMC area, along with the CIDCO areas of Kharghar and Kamothe, was affected. While officials managed to restore water flow by Thursday afternoon, it was at significantly low pressure and in low quantity.
NMMC officials explained that building up full pressure in the main line is a time-consuming process as the water travels a distance of 60 km from the dam. Consequently, while supply was expected to improve by Thursday evening, regular water supply with adequate pressure is anticipated only by the morning of Friday, January 9.
Citizen Concerns and Official Advisory
The sudden disruption caught many residents off guard, leading to inconvenience. A resident, Aditya S, expressed frustration over the lack of prior communication, stating that the civic body did not use its public announcement system to inform citizens, leaving lakhs of people in trouble throughout the day.
The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has assured citizens that water supply on Friday morning would be as per the regular schedule with proper pressure. Until full normalcy is restored, the civic body has urged all citizens to use water wisely and cooperate with the authorities during this period of repair and recovery.
