₹1.33-crore fine against metro contractor for damaging water pipeline

In a letter to MMRDA and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, the BMC complained about metro work causing major damage to the same water main in 2020

MUMBAI: The BMC has slapped a penalty of ₹1.33-crore on the contractor under whose supervision the 1,800-mm water main in Andheri East was damaged on November 30, leading to a severe water crisis in the suburbs. The contractor, who was overseeing Metro 6 drilling work, is incidentally the same contractor who damaged the same pipeline three years ago.

Mumbai, India - Dec 05, 2023 : BMC 300 mm diameter pipeline burst Near Toll Plaza at Dahisar, in Mumbai, India, Tuesday, Dec 05, 2023. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo)

In a letter to MMRDA and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, the BMC complained about metro work causing major damage to the same water main in 2020. The civic body added that a meeting had been held with senior metro officials and a map provided so that such incidents did not occur again, but despite this, the pipeline was damaged again on November 30. The civic body has also marked the letter to the MIDC police station with a request to register an FIR against the contractor in the larger public interest.

When contacted, an official from MMRDA said that the Metro Line 6 contract was awarded to DMRC, which further subcontracted it to M/S Eagle Infra India Ltd. “It was the same contractor who punctured the water main in 2020,” the official confirmed. “We have asked DMRC to penalise him.”

However, MMRDA also blamed the BMC for providing incorrect maps, on account of which the damage occurred. “In the maps given to DMRC, there was no mention of the water main in the location where the contractor was doing the piling work,” said the official. “An initial piling of 4.5 metres was done, which did not have any utilities, and hence further piling work was started.”

While the BMC on Monday completed the repair of the damaged pipe, parts of Andheri, Vile Parle and Juhu continued to remain without water. The civic body clarified that while it had begun supplying water on Monday night, because of the lack of water pressure, complete restoration would take a few days.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, another water pipeline of 300 mm diameter in Dahisar East faced a major leakage due to cable-laying by Adani Electricity contractors. Nainish Vengurlekar, assistant commissioner (in-charge), R North ward said that the water supply was “affected slightly in the morning” but was restored after the repairs. An Adani spokesperson affirmed that the pipeline had been “damaged accidentally” but had been promptly repaired.

Water pipeline leakage due to the plethora of infra projects in Mumbai is not new. On October 27, ongoing metro work damaged the pipeline near Lucky Restaurant, Bandra West, and supply to the entire H West ward was temporarily shut. In April, excavation work in a stormwater drain on Waterfield Road, Bandra West, interfered with a 600-mm diameter pipeline inlet at the Pali Hill reservoir, which supplies water to H West ward.

On November 8, 2022, while digging a borewell at Thane’s Wagle Industrial Estate, a private developer allegedly punctured a water tunnel that supplies water to the Bhandup Pumping station. On March 31, the BMC shut the tunnel to plug the leak and declared a 15 percent water cut in the city. An FIR was lodged, based on a complaint by a local citizen, and a penalty of ₹75 crore was levied on the developer by the BMC.

Advocate Trivankumar Karnani, founder of the citizens’ group Mumbai North Central District Forum, said that repeated incidents of water pipeline damage by contractors went unpunished due to a lack of accountability. “These incidents amount to criminal negligence,” he said. “Punitive measures need to be taken to ensure that contractors exercise due caution while undertaking road excavation works.”

Dhaval Shah, founder of the Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizen’s Association opined that erring contractors needed to be debarred from future projects for at least two years. “A ₹1.3-crore penalty in a project of a few thousand crores is nothing for them,” he said.