Gallons of drinking water were wasted for at least 90 minutes on Friday in Dhurwa, Ranchi, when road widening work damaged a supply pipe, at a time the capital is grappling with acute water crisis.

Around 8am, bystanders noticed flooding near Dhurwa roundabout at Sector III of HEC Township, which they then informed drinking water and sanitation department workers. Inquiries revealed the supply pipe running from Latma Hill water storage tower to Doranda was damaged during widening work carried out by road construction department.

Executive engineer of drinking water and sanitation department Shashi Shekhar Singh said the pipe was repaired by 9.30am.

"We deputed our workers fast to the site. The leaking pipe was plugged by 9.30am. Water supply wasn't disrupted for a long time. The pipe was damaged by the pressure of the road roller," Singh said.

On May 3, a similar incident had taken place near Bihar Club on Kutchery Road in the heart of Ranchi.

A district collectorate official attributed the recurrence of such incidents to road construction and drinking water departments not being in sync.

"Road construction people don't know where pipelines are laid and drinking water and sanitation people don't know where roads are being built. As no department takes precautions, water gets wasted," he said.

IIT-Rourkee engineer Sudhir Kumar, who runs an engineering consultancy agency Sparsh Engineering Company and offers expertise to Jharkhand Urban Infrastructure Development Company (JUIDCO), said such incidents could be averted if a map showing a detailed layout of pipelines in Ranchi was available.

"If the drinking water and sanitation department had a drawing of underground pipelines for water supply and shared it with consultants engaged in road construction work, the chances of such damage could be reduced," Kumar said.

Drinking water executive engineer Singh however claimed that was not the reason.

"The pipeline was laid decades ago while road-widening work is taking place now. The damage took place due to lack of space beside the road for utility work," he said. He also claimed they had a drawing of pipelines.