Goa: Crack in pipeline, restricted water to Cumbharjua

PONDA: Residents of the entire Cumbharjua constituency and parts of Priol and St Andre constituencies will get restricted water supply on Saturday as a pipeline supplying potable water to these areas burst at Curti in Ponda.
Staff of public work department’s (PWD) water division has been working on a war footing to replace the broken pipe despite the incessant rain. Supply is expected to reach the affected areas by Saturday afternoon, said executive engineer of PWD’s water division, Nivruti Parsekar, who has been supervising the work along with the Ponda sub-division staff.
The 40-year-old 750-mm cast iron pipeline has turned fragile and developed a crack at Curti. “In the morning, we received an automated message from a sophisticated pressure meter installed at Banastarim that the pressure has declined below 50%. We immediately stopped the water supply and launched a search for the problem along the line. At 2pm, our staff spotted the rupture at Curti,” Parsekar said, adding, “After ascertaining the fault site, work was taken up immediately to replace the entire piece of around 5.5m of the pipeline.”
“The ruptured pipe was surrounded by bushes and water was pouring into an adjacent nullah. We had to create a temporary approach road for the machinery to reach the fault site. Also, since the pipeline is underground, it took time to dig the ground to locate the rupture,” he said.
The pipeline carries water from Opa water treatment plant to the entire Cumbharjua constituency and Tivrem-Orgao and Betki-Khandola panchayats in Priol and Neura panchayat of St Andre constituencies.