Workers Break Water Pipe due to Negligence-Precious Water Seen Lost in Gallons at Falnir
Mangaluru: When it gets closer to Summertime, Mangaluru City Corporation Mayor and other Officials bring awareness among the public to use water wisely with no wastage whatsoever, since water is precious. But on the other hand, if you look at all the precious water that is seen wasted due to faulty and rusty pipes, or pipes broken by workers during development work etc- the engineers and other officials at Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC0 or Mangaluru Smart City Ltd (MSCL) turn a blind eye against it. One of the members of Area Sabha and Ward Committee had questioned “Can we claim zero billing for the rationed drinking water supply for 400 Lakh Litres intentionally and deliberately wasted every day due to negligence in the absence of Ward Committee and Area Sabhas? We should demand our dues”.
And here we have a civic issue, where there is water leakage due to a broken water pipe, which is due to the negligence of road construction workers, at the road widening area right across from the closed Platinum Theatre/MFC food outset, on Falnir Road, Mangaluru. And as per the area residents the water has been leaking quite sometime and no one has bothered to fix the problem. While water is precious these days, losing water day and night through such carelessness and ignorance of the City Officials, is not a healthy sign. Yes, this water pipe is losing gallons and gallons of water 24X7, is something that the civic body should take care of without further delay.
But looking at the situation, it seems like no MCC officials nor the corporator has taken any action to fix this problem. While MCC claims that it has to collect payment of water bills in crores – on the other hand, MCC is losing gallons of water due to faulty leakages, like this one. While most of the City is dying of thirst due to low water supply during summer times, and here we have water being lost due to human error and negligence. Water leaks are becoming a bigger cause for concern with corporations/municipalities desperately trying to conserve more water while trying to decrease the amount of clean water that is being wasted through burst water pipes.
Old water infrastructure has been a problem for MCC with old metal pipes rusting, loose bolts giving way, and clean water gushing onto the street or into drains, costing a fortune in revenue. So how much water does the city actually lose because of this? A LOT! The City’s creaking water system is leaking thousands of litres every day in regions currently facing usage restrictions as reservoirs run perilously low during hot weather. Many times MCC warns residents to limit their water usage during summer, but don’t bother to fix leaky or faulty pipes that leak out gallons of water. Bah humbug!
Locals say this is indicative of the volume of water being wasted and leaking out of the city’s ageing water infrastructure or human error. If the leaks were fixed there would be no need to conserve water. If you examine some of the MCC water connection pipes you will notice some shocking results- most pipes in the distribution system are in a bad condition. The pipes are either leaking and the dead ends capped with wooden/metal corks increasing the likelihood of water-borne diseases. The presence of heavy metals like iron and lead corroding from the pipes and joints could far exceed the limits of safe drinking water. Sadly, MCC doesn’t care about citizens’ health safety.
Summers bring shortages, even for those served by the city’s plumbing. Everywhere, the steep ascent of demand has caused a run on groundwater. Well owners drill deeper and deeper, chasing the water table downward as they all keep draining it further. And on the other hand, we have these faulty/leaky water pipes that lose gallons of water-what a waste? Hope this report will awaken the concerned MCC officials to spring into action, and fix this leaking water pipe, so that not a single drop of precious water is lost- and make the nearby residents happy.
