Water supply to 50K families affected after pipeline gets damaged due to metro work at University Chowk

Water supply to over 50,000 families living in Aundh and surrounding areas was affected on Saturday morning after the main water lines were damaged at Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) Chowk due to metro work.

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has decided to impose a fine on the authorities for frequent damage to utility lines during construction work.

The 1,200-metre water pipeline in front of Modern School was punctured on Friday night. This affected the supply to Aundh Road, Bhau Patil Road, Chikalwadi, Manaji Baugh, Pune University, Khadki station and some areas in Bopodi. Due to the damaged water line, there was no water supply to the Aundh area on Saturday morning. Water supply was restored on Saturday afternoon after fixing the line, said civic officials.

Aniruddh Pawaskar, head, PMC water department said, “This has become a frequent issue and we have decided to take stern action. We will be writing to the respective metro authorities on Monday. The fines will be taken from them for damaging the utility lines. Insensitive excavation causes damage to public utilities. The citizens have to suffer and the civic body has to bear the wrath of citizens.”

This is not the first time the water lines have been damaged due to metro work. Last year in June the same water line was damaged due to metro development work and the water supply in Aundh area was affected for three days during which the PMC supplied water through tankers.

Mayur Bolade, area resident said, “The daily water supply to the entire area is received between 5.30 am and 9.00 am, but on Saturday morning, there was no water supply. Later, we learnt that the water line was damaged during metro work. How can the same lines get damaged every time? The water supply was restored by noon. The PMC should take this issue seriously,” he, said.

Sunanda Shegde, another resident said, “With no water supply on Saturday morning, it affected daily chores. This blind excavation for Metro is making life miserable for the citizens.”