Workers Break Water Pipe Due to Negligence! Gallons of Water Lost while the City is Under Water Rationing, near Avery Junction/Falnir on Balmatta New Road?
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 gallons and gallons of water were lost from Monday 22 May morning until the wee hours of Tuesday 23 May, due to a water pipe, broken by the worker’s negligence during the concreting work on New Balmatta Road in the City. And as per the locals and business owners nearby, the water pipe was broken around 10 am on Monday, and even though calls were made to area ward corporator advocate Vinayaraj and MCC officials, no action was taken past midnight, and only during the wee hours of Tuesday, the water has been shut off. Meanwhile, during the entire day, thousands of gallons of water were lost.
While water is precious these days, losing water day and night through such carelessness and ignorance is not a healthy sign. Yes, this broken water pipe losing gallons and gallons of water is something that the civic body should take action against the persons responsible. With the city facing a shortage in water storage at the Thumbe vented dam, which supplies drinking water to the city, the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) has resorted to water rationing since 5 May 2023. Instead of a daily supply, water is now supplied on alternate days. And MCC has requested people to cooperate with the corporation and not waste water for washing vehicles and other purposes. However, water is lost/wasted due to incidents like this one, who should be blamed and taken action on?
Even though MCC has enforced water rationing for its citizens, the officials have turned a blind eye towards leaky and faulty water connection pipes all around the City, and not just the one here at Balmatta New Road. Earlier there were leaky pipes near Urwa, Lady Hill, Bendore-well, Jeppu, and many other places- but the problems don’t stop, as the leaks appear again and again. 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 lose because of this? A LOT! Many a time, 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.
Locals say this is indicative of the volume of water being wasted and leaking out of the city’s ageing water infrastructure. 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 or the dead ends are capped with wooden/metal corks increasing the likelihood of water-borne diseases. Sadly, MCC doesn’t care about citizens’ health and 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. And on the other hand, we have these faulty/leaky water pipes or water pipes broken by ignorance/negligence that lose gallons of water-what waste. Hope this report will awaken the concerned MCC officials to spring into action and rectify the water waste issue.Thanking you in anticipation-yours truly on behalf of the citizens of Mangaluru.
