Several thousand litres of drinking water got washed away when a distribution pipeline got damaged during road work at Tambaram.
According to residents of Krishna Nagar, contract workers engaged by the Highways Department were involved in construction of stormwater drains on Mudichur Road. Opposite Krishna Nagar in west Tambaram, an earthmover damaged the pipeline, resulting in the leakage on Thursday morning which continued till noon.
Officials said that the pipeline supplied drinking water to several residential colonies and commercial establishments in West Tambaram. Workers involved in road cutting said they were not aware of the location or the depth of the pipelines.
Residents of Krishna Nagar pointed out that even if the main pumps at the headworks were stopped, water would continue to flow through pipelines due to gravity and in the event of damage, water would go waste. An engineer attached to Municipal Administration Department said that in the past, pipelines supplying drinking water were damaged at many places, resulting in loss of drinking water. However, the repair was carried out quickly, he said.