NMC, OCW yet to plug Juni Mangalwari water leakage

Nagpur: The preventive measures taken by Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and Orange City Water (OCW) — the private firm appointed to implement city's ambitious 24X7 water supply project — to avoid the wastage of potable water are yet to produce the desired results even as several areas in the city reel under water shortage.

Pipe bursts are a major crisis in many areas of the city and pleas for immediate repair fall on deaf ears. Juni Mangalwari Road, below Mahdibagh flyover is the latest example of such cases.

"A huge volume of Kanhan water, at least thousands of litres per hour, is going down the drain due to a damaged pipeline since August end," said Yakub Vazir, a resident of Mahdibagh.

"We have been complaining to Satranjipura zone's assistant municipal commissioner and OCW officials," he claimed when TOI visited the locality.

A local resident alleged that the pressure of drinking water supply in this area has dropped over the last one month.

It has resulted in reduced water supply to the residents, TOI learnt while interacting with them.

"Initially, we were clueless about the reduced force of water to our respective tabs but later learnt that this underground leakage was the reason behind the problem. The situation has remained unresolved so far," said a resident from Juni Mangalwari.

During our stay there, we also found that wastage of drinking water alone does not trouble the public. The roads in the area have also been damaged due to the delay in repairing the pipe.

Motorists continue to have a tough ride on this patch. When the water starts leaking, at least a kilometre of the road, on either side of the leaking spot, remains submerged.

Persistent leakage has resulted in waterlogging on the main road and accidents are a common sight.

"Recently, a senior citizen Dr Jivaji, a resident of the locality, sustained injuries after his two-wheeler skidded due to this," claimed Vazir.

"It takes us several minutes to get past the traffic snarl at this particular stretch," said motorist Prakash Dekate.

OCW assured to initiate the repair works after this correspondent alerted its spokesperson. "We will send our staff to plug the leakage," the spokesperson told TOI.

TOI has been highlighting how the private firm has failed to plug leakages, causing wastage of lakhs litres of treated water.

One can also imagine the gravity of the issue with the fact that NMC is drawing almost 650 to 670 MLD water from both Kanhan River and Pench Reservoir, but only around 300 MLD is being billed.

Mayor Nanda Jichkar, deputy mayor Deepraj Pardikar and municipal commissioner Ashwin Mudgal visited Hudco Colony near Jaripatka where residents have complained of contaminated water in their taps. Mayor directed the OCW officials to rectify the issue immediately.