At least nine persons were injured, with two of them suffering serious wounds, after a pipeline supplying water to the city suffered a breach at Janata Vasahat near Sinhgad road in the wee hours on Saturday.
The flow of water from the damaged pipeline located at lane number 29 was so strong that it infiltrated into 40 nearby houses, catching people by surprise as they were asleep. The pipeline, according to Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), is 45 years old and has corroded at multiple places.
The 18-inch radius pipeline is crucial as it brings water from Khadakwasla dam to Pune city via Parvati pumping station. The pipeline passes parallel to the canal in Janata Vasahat which houses low income slum tenements.
According to the PMC water department, the pipeline repairing work was undertaken immediately and was completed by afternoon.
Due to the incident, water supply to some parts of the city was affected. However, it was restored by evening after repair work was completed, said officials.
As all off the sudden water started flooding from the pipeline with full pressure, it entered the Janata Vasahat slum which is located along this water pipeline.
{{/usCountry}}As all off the sudden water started flooding from the pipeline with full pressure, it entered the Janata Vasahat slum which is located along this water pipeline.
{{/usCountry}}Among those injured in the incident are local residents - Mahesh More, Ravindra Kondhalkar, Sunita Bait, Piyush Jadhav, Akshay Solkar. The injured persons were immediately sent to Sassoon and Bharati Vidyapeeth Hospital for treatment, said locals.
According to Suraj Lokhande, a social worker from Janata Vasahat, two persons from Janata Vasahat suffered from bone fractures.
Locals said many didn’t understand initially what was happening as it was dark. As water starting gushing into houses, people began running while some of them fell off due to the slippery stretch.
“After receiving calls from residents, fire brigade officials reached the spot immediately and began rescuing people,” said fire brigade department head Prashant Ranpise.
Earlier in April 2019, the same pipeline had burst though nobody was injured in the incident. In September 2018, around 350 houses from Janata Vasahat had been inundated with water after the Mutha rightbank canal wall suffered a breach at around 10.30 am causing minor floods in the Dandekar bridge area.