Unattended water pipeline burst floods lane in Kandivali

Mumbai's Charkop Sector 8 faces flooding from a water pipeline leak, ignored for three days, disrupting residents' access and contaminating water supply.

Mumbai: A water pipeline leak in Charkop Sector 8, Kandivali, that remained unattended for three days, has flooded the only accessible lane to reach the main road, residents said on Sunday. Residents have been trying to reach out to officials regarding the leak since Thursday, but have received no response, they added.

Mumbai, India - Feb. 2, 2025: Water pipe line bust at Charkop, Kandivali in Mumbai, India, on Sunday, February 2, 2025. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

“This concretisation work on one side of the lane has been going on since October 2024. We are struggling with a lot of things due to it already. Now, leakage of untreated water has been added to our worries,” said Milli Shetty, a resident activist, whose gates open to the flooded road.

Residents from several chawls and houses in sector 8 depend on the lane to reach the main road.

While one side of lane has been blocked off for concretisation some months, the other is now flooded with sewage water, they said.

“We are left to walk on pebbles, negotiating the untreated water,” said Bhumika Malhotra, who has been living in the area for 10 years.

“We tried contacting the road and the water departments when the problem arose on Thursday, but got no response. We then spoke to the workers who are concretising the road and explained to them the situation,” Shetty added.

On Saturday, the workers created a mud-bank around the source of leakage, redirect its flow towards the sewerage line, said Sukwinder Gill, another resident.

“The workers did this after we approached them to help us out in any way. This allowed the road to dry up for some time, but the water is still getting wasted,” he said.

The pipeline leak has caused the soil used for road work to mix with the potable water residents use.

“We get water for two hours a day, from 12 noon to 2pm. But since the leakage, the water has been muddy, which has contaminated the water in our overhead tank at home, leaving us dependant on bottled water,” said Malhotra.

Both the old and new pipelines are present under the lane and are working simultaneously, said a contract worker from the water supply department.

“Although the new pipeline is in use, the old one is also still operational. It burst because heavy vehicles carrying cement plied on the road, putting pressure on it,” he said.

The old pipeline has now been made dysfunctional, he said.

”We received the complaint regarding the leakage today, so we have started resolving it. We are reviewing the whole road and we will take action accordingly,” he added.