Qasab pushes up water pipeline cost by Rs 12 cr

Left unfinished due to trial, BMC restarts work on water main that will supply clean water to 35,000 families, but will cost more, as contractor wants compensation

With the BMC resuming work on laying the pipeline near Arthur Road Jail after a gap of two years, about 35,000 households in Worli, Dadar, Lower Parel and Prabhadevi will soon get some respite in the form of sufficient clean water.


The pipeline being laid near Arthur Road Jail which will provide some respite to residents

About 20 per cent of the work of laying pipeline near Arthur Road Jail had been held up for the past two years what with the ongoing trial of 26/11 convict Ajmal Qasab.

The police had sealed the road from Jacob Circle to Delisle Road for security reasons for almost a year when the terrorist's hearing began in April 2009.

Since then, the civic body had been unable to carry out any work.

Chandrakant Pugaonkar, a local corporator, said, "For a long time, the corporation couldn't get permission to go ahead with work.

Almost 80 per cent of the project work has been done and unless the remainder, which involves changing pipelines on the J R Boricha Marg, is completed, the whole project would be useless.
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There wouldn't be any water supplied at all." Around 200 m of the work would be done at J R Boricha Marg, which will cost about Rs 6 crore.

But now, the corporation has taken up the work on the stretch that had been abandoned. However, in the gap of two years, the total cost of the project has shot up by Rs 12 crore, as the contractor has demanded more compensation.

An official from the BMC's Hydraulic Department said, "The cost shot up with the delay. The contractor demanded Rs 12 crore more July last year. We were not getting the permission to complete the rest of the project due to security reasons."

Officialspeak
The civic authority had decided to change the underground pipelines supplying water to the mentioned areas after complaints of leakages causing water contamination.

The cost of the project was pegged at Rs 35 crore when the contract was awarded in February 2009. But the outlay was later hiked to Rs 47 crore, at the behest of the contractor.

BMC's hydraulic engineer R Bamble said, "The permissions were given 8-10 days back."

Additional Municipal Commissioner Rajiv Jalota said, "We had been struggling to get the permissions from the CID for the past month and a half. Now that we have received the permits, the work will be completed in the next couple of months."

Pugaonkar added, "After struggling a lot, the work has finally begun. If it is stalled again, people would protest." He added that workers have been given identity cards and are constantly watched by the police.

Voices
We don't receive enough water. It has become difficult to live here. We have another house in Bhandup where we go to do laundry twice a week.
Richa Shah, Worli resident