CM throws open incomplete tunnel
The 15.1km water tunnel between Andheri and Bhandup has a valve missing.
That the BJP-led state government is in a mad rush to portray itself as a pro-development regime ahead of the upcoming BMC polls became evident after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the partially completed Gundavali-Bhandup Complex underground water tunnel on Thursday.
The 15.1 km-long underground water tunnel between Gundavali in Andheri and leading up to the Bhandup water complex, is yet to be fitted with a butterfly valve which can halt the water supply midway. Now, in case of emergencies, the entire tunnel will have to be shut and water supply diverted to age-old pipelines, to carry out repair work. The valve in question, is not due before the end of this month.
The project was inaugurated by the CM in the presence of Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and Yuva Sena chief Aditya Thackeray, among others.
Although a single project, the tunnel is actually made up of two parts, a 6.8 km pipeline from Gundavali to Kapurbawdi in Thane and an 8.3 km connecting link from Kapurbawdi to Bhandup complex. BMC is supposed to fit a valve at the Kapurbawdi end of the tunnel.
The valve is yet to be imported and officials estimate an eight to ten days time frame for the contractor to fit the valve. “The installation will only take around 8 to 10 days and should be completed before the end of this month,” said a BMC official.
The 3.7m diameter pipeline tunnel runs 100 meters underground and will supply water from the Middle Vaitarna reservoir. The project costs the BMC a good Rs 2,887 crore and has been in the offing for at least a decade.
‘Contractor was on schedule’
Officials have claimed that the contractors, M/s Soma Enterprises and M/s Unity IV RCL, were on schedule and blamed the government for the unreasonable hurry.
“There is no reason to pull them up. But politicians were in a hurry to inaugurate the project. They couldn’t wait another month as the Code of Conduct would kick in any moment,” said an official.
Decision to reduce dependency
Meanwhile, Ramesh Bambale, BMC deputy municipal commissioner (special engineering), confirmed the civic agency’s decision to speed up the inauguration although he said it was not because of political pressure.
“It is not because the code of conduct will kick in soon. We just wanted to reduce the dependency on old pipelines which keep on bursting. It is only a matter of a couple of days. Work should be completed by first week of January,” said Bambale.
That the BJP-led state government is in a mad rush to portray itself as a pro-development regime ahead of the upcoming BMC polls became evident after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the partially completed Gundavali-Bhandup Complex underground water tunnel on Thursday.
The 15.1 km-long underground water tunnel between Gundavali in Andheri and leading up to the Bhandup water complex, is yet to be fitted with a butterfly valve which can halt the water supply midway. Now, in case of emergencies, the entire tunnel will have to be shut and water supply diverted to age-old pipelines, to carry out repair work. The valve in question, is not due before the end of this month.
“The politicians were in a hurry to inaugurate the project as they couldn’t wait another month since the Code of Conduct would kick in. So now, if something goes wrong with the tunnel, we will have to completely empty it and then identify what went wrong. In the meantime, supply will be directed to the old pipelines which the new one has replaced. The entire process could at least a couple of hours,” said an official on condition of anonymity.
The project was inaugurated by the CM in the presence of Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and Yuva Sena chief Aditya Thackeray, among others.
Although a single project, the tunnel is actually made up of two parts, a 6.8 km pipeline from Gundavali to Kapurbawdi in Thane and an 8.3 km connecting link from Kapurbawdi to Bhandup complex. BMC is supposed to fit a valve at the Kapurbawdi end of the tunnel.
The valve is yet to be imported and officials estimate an eight to ten days time frame for the contractor to fit the valve. “The installation will only take around 8 to 10 days and should be completed before the end of this month,” said a BMC official.
The 3.7m diameter pipeline tunnel runs 100 meters underground and will supply water from the Middle Vaitarna reservoir. The project costs the BMC a good Rs 2,887 crore and has been in the offing for at least a decade.
‘Contractor was on schedule’
Officials have claimed that the contractors, M/s Soma Enterprises and M/s Unity IV RCL, were on schedule and blamed the government for the unreasonable hurry.
“There is no reason to pull them up. But politicians were in a hurry to inaugurate the project. They couldn’t wait another month as the Code of Conduct would kick in any moment,” said an official.
Decision to reduce dependency
Meanwhile, Ramesh Bambale, BMC deputy municipal commissioner (special engineering), confirmed the civic agency’s decision to speed up the inauguration although he said it was not because of political pressure.
“It is not because the code of conduct will kick in soon. We just wanted to reduce the dependency on old pipelines which keep on bursting. It is only a matter of a couple of days. Work should be completed by first week of January,” said Bambale.
