Water pipe burst in Andheri West causes chaos for residents

While not pinpointing the exact cause of the water main burst, a civic official from the hydraulic department said, “It could also be possibly because it was an old pipe. The repairs will be completed tonight, and the water will be restored on Thursday”

Mumbai: Residents and commuters were caught off-guard when a 1,200 mm water pipeline burst on Wednesday around 3pm in front of Twinkle Apartments, Adarsh Nagar Road, leading to a major water spurt in the middle of the road, reaching a height of approximately eight storeys.

Mona Muni, who lives in Sangam CHS, which is two buildings away from the site of the burst, said she heard a loud blast and rushed to the window, and could see water coming in from the terrace.

The K West ward’s hydraulic engineers and the officers and employees of the water engineering department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) were immediately deployed on site.

The water leakage was stopped by blocking the supply of the channel, and repair work of the water channel was started immediately.

Millat Nagar, SVP Nagar Mhada, and Lokhandwala areas will not be able to get water supply until the repair is completed. Purshottam Malwade, hydraulic engineer said, the water supply will be affected in two zones in Millat Nagar and Lokhandwala.

“The repair work has already started, and water will be supplied as soon as it is completed. Our engineers will assess the situation only after dewatering of the pipe is completed and learn about the cause of the pipe burst.”

While not pinpointing the exact cause of the water main burst, a civic official from the hydraulic department said, “It could also be possibly because it was an old pipe. The repairs will be completed tonight, and the water will be restored on Thursday. It occurred near Adarsh Nagar tunnel shaft, and the water main comes from Adarsh Nagar and feeds into Millat Nagar and Lokhandwala.”

Mona Muni, who lives in Sangam CHS, which is two buildings away from the site of the burst, said she heard a loud blast and rushed to the window, and could see water coming in from the terrace. “Everyone was shocked and confused about where the water was coming from,” said Muni.

Eventually, in 15 minutes, residents were informed about the water pipe burst and that they would not receive water supply for the next two days, informed by a BMC officer.

Dhaval Shah from the Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens’ Association said, “The blast flooded the Silver Sands building and Adarsh Nagar Road, which was then closed to vehicles. The force was so high the water went up to eight storeys. The water was receding slowly, as it is a low-lying area.”

The usual time to fill water is 2.30pm, so none of the buildings were able to fill water for more than 10 minutes, said Shah.

The residents of Lokhandwala will be ordering water tankers. “My building immediately ordered a water tanker because if we wait, the demand will go up as other buildings will order them too, and the prices will hike from ₹3,000 to ₹8,000 for 10,000 litres. Each wing will need a tanker, and we don’t have much hope that the pipe will be fixed in a day, from our previous experience,” said Shah.