Even as Navi Mumbai grapples with growing concerns over water security, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has uncovered repeated theft of water from the city’s main Morbe Dam pipeline, with an illegal connection being restored and removed three times at the same location in Panvel taluka.

The latest crackdown took place during an overnight operation between June 19 and June 20, when NMMC officials, backed by police from Khandeshwar police station, disconnected an unauthorised pipeline tapping water directly from the city’s 2050-mm trunk water main in the Devad-Vichumbe area. The civic body has now registered a criminal case and installed CCTV cameras to prevent further tampering.