Mumbai And Thane To Experience 15 Per Cent Water Cut Due To Punctured Pipe

Mumbai, 31st March 2023: Water supply to Mumbai and Thane city will be reduced by 15% for a month starting today due to the developer of an IT park currently being built at Wagle Estate. The workmen struck and punctured a water tunnel 70 metres below earth last year while excavating a bore well at the location. The builder, against whom the Thane police have filed an FIR, will be held liable for the repairs, which would cost the BMC R13 crore.

After a complaint from a local activist, the Shree Nagar police in Thane on 28th March filed an FIR under IPC Section 430 (mischief by injury to works of irrigation or by improperly diverting water) against the developer, Squarefeet Real Estate.

As the developer began pumping water from the damaged site to a stormwater drain close to the plot, civic activist Bharatkumar Pisat, who is located in Thane, detected leaks in the vicinity. He subsequently decided to request information from the BMC under the Right to Information Act. On 27th February, he received a response to his enquiry.

According to the BMC’s records, on 8th November 2022, workmen at plot C-30 on Road No. 16 in the Wagle Industrial Estate pierced the water tunnel while excavating a bore well there. Water is transported through the tunnel from Balkum to the Bhandup purification facility. A civic crew went to the location that day and saw the damage; however, nothing was done.