The Rs 13-cr error that punctured Mumbai’s water supply for one month

Thanks to the developer of an underconstruction IT park at Wagle Estate water supply to Mumbai and Thane city will be slashed by 15 per cent for a month starting today While digging a bore well at the site the workers hit and punctured a water tunnel 70 metres below ground last year The BMC has decided to recover the cost for repairs R13 crore from the builder against whom the Thane police have filed an FIRThe Shree Nagar police in Thane on March 28 registered an FIR against the developer Squarefeet Real Estate under IPC Section 430 mischief by injury to works of irrigation or by wrongfully diverting water after receiving a complaint from a local activistWater from the tunnel is being pumped into this storm water drain at the work plot PicsSayyed Sameer AbediThanebased civic activist Bharatkumar Pisat had noticed leakage in the area as the developer was pumping water from the damaged site to a storm water drain near the plot He then decided to gather information from the BMC under the Right to Information Act and got a reply to his query on February 27 which he has shared with middayAlso read Mumbai to witness 15 per cent water cut for a month from March 31 says BMCRTI responseThe BMCrsquos documents show that on November 8 2022 while digging a bore well at plot No C30 on Road No 16 in Wagle Industrial Estate the workers punctured the water tunnel The tunnel carries water from Balkum to the Bhandup purification centre A civic team visited the site the same day and confirmed the damage however the officials neither filed a police complaint nor took action against the developer the activist saidA pipe going through the centre of the open area pumps the water out of the broken tunnel siteAccording to the documents the developer got the approval for construction of the IT park from the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation MIDC which is the planning authority for the zone The MIDC has told the BMC that the developer did not take its permission for digging the bore well ldquoThe document shows that the bore well was illegal yet the authorities concerned are unwilling to file a police complaint in this regardrdquo Pisat told midday There was a loss of 3 million litres of water daily which is 11 per cent of the cityrsquos daily supply As the tunnel was punctured 143 days ago 429 million litres of water has been lost so far shows the recordAlso Read Aftab Amin Poonawala and now Rimple Jain Inside the mind of cold blooded killersNobore well zoneNot just the spot but the entire Wagle Industrial Estate is a nobore well zone Both the civic authorities of Mumbai and Thane have erected signs to this effect A senior police officer told midday ldquoWe are investigating the case and collecting information from all parties concernedrdquo The Thane police have sought information from both the BMC and the MIDC Thane Congress leader Rahul Pingle demanded to know why were the ldquoauthorities concerned delaying action against the offenders Moreover why did the BMC start repair work so laterdquoThe repair workThe BMC will start repairing work on March 31 which would disrupt water supply to Mumbai and parts of Thane for 30 days According to the BMCrsquos document the water supply from the tunnel would be stopped and diverted to the 2750 dia Vaitarna main 2750 dia Upper Vaitarna main and 3000 dia Tansa replacement mainThe storm water drain outside the underconstruction IT park site at Wagle Estate in Thane on Thursday PicSayyed Sameer AbediAfter diverting the supply the BMC will create arrangements for ventilation and lighting in the tunnel During the 30day work the water supply will be slashed by 15 per cent When a midday team visited the spot on Thursday site engineer Patil as he introduced himself and others refused to share any information No contact could be made through the phone numbers provided on the developerrsquos website eitherAdditional Commissioner BMC P Velrasu did not respond to middayrsquos message for comment In the past tunnels have been punctured within the city limits during illegal digging of bore wellsmdashonce in October 2011 at a housing society in Jogeshwari and another in November 2013 in Malad The Jogeshwari tunnel between Yari Road and Veravali carried treated water