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Bhubaneswar, June 7: The summer woes of Ashok Nagar residents just got compounded. Water supply was disrupted in many parts of the colony after an underground pipeline burst in two places.
The colony, second oldest in the city after Bapuji Nagar, is home to over 10,000 people and many business establishments.
In other areas, residents complained of muddy water flowing from taps. The public health engineering organisation (PHEO) authorities have been informed, but the problem is yet to be fixed.
“Water flowed from the taps for a few seconds in the morning and then stopped abruptly. We found out that faults in the pipeline that had been repaired earlier gave in to the morning supply pressure. The PHEO should take immediate steps to repair the faults, as we are facing a severe crisis at a time when the city temperature is more than 45°C. The tankers sent by the PHEO did not supply adequate water,” said Rajkumar Mohanty, executive member, Ashok Nagar Nagarika Committee.
Residents of Ashok Nagar said the pipeline had ruptured at two places — where the public works department (PWD) was carrying out work on a drain near Khadi Niketan, and near Puri Ganguram near Rajmahal Square.
Sudipta Badajena, former councillor of the locality, said: “The authorities concerned must take preventive measures while executing development work such as laying of roads or drains so that underground cables and pipelines are not damaged. When the civic authorities grant permission for work they should also monitor the activities so that people do not suffer.”
Badajena said such ruptures were common and the pipe water had been contaminated because of development work. “In future, the authorities must be careful while executing work.”
Subash Patnaik, joint secretary of the Ashok Nagar Nagarika Committee, said city residents were already suffering because of the heat wave, frequent power cuts and inadequate water supply. “But rupture of the pipeline and contamination of water is a serious issue and all the authorities concerned must deal it with a coordinated manner.”
PHEO superintending engineer Chitta Ranjan Jena said the pipeline was first damaged near Ashok Nagar because of the drain-laying activity undertaken by the PWD. “We have been unable to lift a large rock near the site and that is preventing us from undertaking the repair work.”
The pipeline ruptured at a second spot when an optical fibre laying company, which was carrying out cable-laying work through the trenching method, had accidentally broken the pipeline, Jena said. “Cable laying work is causing many other difficulties in different parts of the city. We will have a word with the civic body and plan to raise the issue at the monthly city management group meeting in the future,” he added.
Jena promised that the pipeline would be repaired on a war footing. “Meanwhile, we have started sending water tankers to Ashok Nagar so that the residents have no problem in the summer heat. We will urge other departments involved in city development to be cautious while executing their work. Yesterday it was a pipeline, but had it been an underground electric cable, it would have meant disaster for the whole area.”
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