the goan I network
MARGAO
On a day when Goa received heavy pre-monsoon showers, nearly one-third of Margao city had to face a dry spell! A three-decade old water pipeline ruptured in the wee hours of the day near Gomant Vidya Niketan denying the city not only water, but also power and telephone connectivity.
The entire Comba area, Abade Faria road and the heart of the city went without water supply since the pipeline ruptured around 2 am on Wednesday. Around 1250 BSNL telephones went dead in the city after a telephone cable had to be cut to pave way for the repair of the ruptured pipeline. Power supply was switched off as a precautionary measure since the underground cable was lying just above the damaged water pipeline.
Officials of the PWD, water supply, electricity and BSNL had a meeting at the spot on Wednesday evening how to go about the matter. The PWD, water supply contended that the pipeline cannot be repaired simply because around half a dozen telephone and other cables were lying just above the line. Margao MLA Digambar Kamat along with ward Councillor Suchita Malkarnekar, local BJP leader Sharmad Raiturcar and others inspected the site as water and power supply to large parts of Comba and the city remained
disconnected throughout
the day.
PWD, water supply, Executive Engineer Sanjay Volvoikar told The Goan at the site that the PWD will take up the repair of the damaged line at around 8 am on Thursday.
“Since a host of telephone cables are required to be cut, we have decided to carry out digging a little away from the spot and then lift the damaged line and replace the same with a new one. Let us hope that the operation is successful,” he said.
He informed that around 1250 BSNL telephones in the city have gone dead after an underground telephone cable was cut to repair the water supply line.
“The 150 mm dia pipeline may be more than three decades old. The pipeline must have been damaged while laying other cables. It must have been ruptured due to the rise in water pressure,” he said.
Councillor Suchita Malkarnekar told the media that she received a phone call at around 2 am stating that the underground water line has ruptured near Gomant Vidya Niketan.
“I immediately informed TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai’s office and also tried to contact PWD officials, who were not available,” she added.
