A 40-year-old water pipe burst on the Louiswadi Express Highway in Thane (West) on Wednesday morning, disrupting traffic.
However, as water supply to Thane remains shut off on Wednesday for regular work, the burst didn’t affect residents.
The pipe burst created a huge ditch on the road. Officegoers had to face major traffic snarls due to flooding in the morning.
The Thane Municipal Corporation said it would replace the damaged pipe within 18 hours.
“The pipe was 40-year-old and in middle of a concrete road. We had our regular 24 hours shut down in the area between Wednesday 12 am and Thursday 12 am.
The pipe must have burst due to the water hammer effect. Here, as we close the main valve to stop the supply, the water receding from the pipe exerts a negative pressure on it and tear off few weak links. Since the pipe was old and its life period was over, it burst,” said K.D. Lala, TMC city engineer.
“Our first priority is to replace the pipe and repair the road to resume water supply by midnight. After this incident, we will also plan to shift all such pipes on one side of the roads.”