Water supply normalises as PWD fixes Kundaim line

PONDA: Water supply to parts of five constituencies normalised by late Thursday.
The supply was disrupted after the major pipeline that supplies potable water to these areas had developed a crack near Kundaim industrial estate on Wednesday afternoon.
The 750mm pipeline that carries potable water from Opa Water Works to parts of Panaji, St Cruz, St Andre, Cumbharjua in Tiswadi taluka and parts of Priol constituency in Ponda taluka had burst underground.
Staff attached to the water division worked overnight to replace the entire pipe of 5.5m. Water was subsequently released after completion of work on Thursday morning. While the low-lying areas received water by afternoon, areas located at an altitude received supply by late Thursday night, officials attached to the water division said.
“As the 50-year-old 750-mm cast iron pipeline has turned fragile, it had developed a crack. As soon as we received a message informing that a pipeline has been burst at Curti, we immediately stopped supply and launched repair work. Since the pipeline was covered below a road, it took much time”, Nivruti Parsekar, an executive engineer of water division who had been personally supervising the work along with Ponda sub-division staff, said.
The pipeline had developed a crack and water was oozing out from the ground. Some people who noticed the leakage informed the water division. Parsekar said though there was a crack to the pipeline, they had to replace the entire pipe of 5.5m to avoid development of a new crack as the pipeline is fragile.