Commissioning of city’s water tunnel only after October?

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) plan to commission the 15k.1m tunnel from Gundavali in Thane to Bhandup Water Complex by June this year has been delayed further. Officials said the tunnel could be commissioned only after October this year.
In the BMC’s budget speech this year, municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta had announced that the tunnels would be commissioned by June 2016.
However, even in the month of August, work is still in progress, said officials from BMC’s water supply projects department. “Work on the tunnels has been going on since 2010 and should be completed either by end of September this year or by the first week of October,” said an officer. “Currently, work on connecting of the water pipeline from the source up to Gundavali in Thane district where the tunnel will originate is on. The tunnel will only be from Gundavali to Bhandup Complex while connection will be given through pipelines only. There has been a delay due to site difficulty.”
Civic officials said that in currently raw water is brought from source to Bhandup Complex treatment plant through a network of water mains like Vaitarna, Upper Vaitarna and Tansa which have been carrying water to the city since long. The thickness of these pipelines, some of which are around 100 years old, has reduced due to wear and tear. So, it is essential to replace such age-old, dilapidated pipelines. Also, old water pipelines have been witnessed frequent bursts and leakage, leading to repairs being undertaken.
Considering all these facts, BMC had undertaken various tunnel projects.
The tunnel of 5,500mm diameter from Gundavali to Kapurbawdi and Kapurbawdi to Bhandup Complex has a capacity to carry 4,000 million litres of water daily which includes provisions for existing supply and supply from proposed Gargai and Pinjal dams.
“Unlike water mains which are above the ground, these tunnels will be underground and therefore we are anticipating that the water loss will be lesser,” said the official. “In fact, a part of the tunnel passes 1km below the Thane creek as well.”