Mumbai: Water leak, but no repairs, because it's Make In India week!

Many government agencies are busy with Make in India But who cares if in the same city that is hosting the Prime Ministerrsquos pet event hundreds of litres of water goes down the drain everyday Sadly this seems to be the attitude of the authorities who are turning a blind eye to more than 10 leakages in water supply pipelines in Santacruz alone and have not attended to them for over a week and in some cases 15 days The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC does not want to show dugup roads during the ongoing Make in India week This has caused hundreds of litres of water to go waste every morning at Santacruz leading to puddles on the roadsAlso Read Two days into Make In India week roads around venue wearing outCromton Texeira a local resident shows a spot where the leaked water collects every dayThe city is hosting the Make in India week event at BKC which has seen participation from 30 countries Several international delegates as well as businessmen are in town for it and the BMC had gone into overdrive to prepare the city for it But because of it areas such as Santacruz which has the airport and therefore VIP movement have suffered There have been leakages in several big and small water supply pipelines of the area for about 15 days now causing flooding on the roadsides Civic officials told midday that the work was avoided in order to prevent digging roads during the Make in India weekRead Story Make in India Week launches with goodiesTexeira points out that the water floods various areas and this is dangerous for pedestrians and motorists PicsPradeep DhivarHow it worksThe BMC has a network of water supply pipelines across the city that branch out into several smaller ones before reaching homes Although the pipelines are several feet underground if there is a leakage the water can even puncture holes in the road and stream out Leakages lead to the loss of precious water and also lead to low pressure in nearby areas Once detected they have to be fixed either by replacing a portion of the pipeline or other methods Ideally it takes about four days to fix leakagesSantacruz in a fixThe case of Santacruz is representative of what must be happening in other parts of the city as well Local resident Cromton Texeira 70 claims to have found 1214 leakages in the Vakola Kalina Santacruz areas He informed civic officials who he claims gave him verbal assurances Then engineers came and inspected the sites nothing was doneThere are some spots where the pipeline has been leaking for as many as 15 days Every morning the water flows out on the roads This is hundreds of litres of precious drinking water that is being wasted Besides it is dangerous for pedestrians and motorists When I pointed this to the chief engineer hydraulics Tawadiya he assured me that action will be taken But the local assistant engineer told me that major repairs canrsquot be undertaken now as the Make in India week is going on Just because they donrsquot want to show dugup roads to VIPs will they allow water to be wasted Texeira askedOfficialspeakMilind Bhagwat assistant engineer water works HEast ward said Yes we cannot undertake major repair works since the Make in India week is going on Although there are no such written orders we have been asked to avoid it Even the traffic police refuses to give permission in such cases But I am unaware of any such complaint from Texeira I will have to inspect the spots firstHowever A S Tawadiya chief engineer hydraulics of the BMC differed He said It is not true that we are not undertaking repairs due to Make in India week All routine work is going on as usual However it is possible that our men went to seek permission from the traffic police and were not given it I will look into the matterVoicesRaju Darbere resident of KalinaEvery morning there is a pool of water here near the bus stop The other day two bikers slipped and fell This is getting dangerousPaul DSouza resident of KalinaThere has been flooding at this spot for about a weekBrijesh Shukla Shop owner at Vakola MarketThis problem has been there for more than a month Every morning a 510 mts patch of the road gets filled with water It causes problems for motorists The BMC is not doing anything about itUsman Gani Sumra Another residentWe go to the KES School ground to play football Water stays accumulated on the roadside there People have difficulty in walking thereSome of the affected spots1 Vakola marble market2 Near KES School Sundar nagar3 Kalina market4 St Anthony Road Vakola5 Near St Charles school Vakola6 Near Canara bank Vakola7 Opp Banquet Plaza Kalina masjid8 St Maryrsquos chowk9 Near Poddar school Kalina