Even as pipelines continue to burst across the city,the mega project undertaken by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in 2005 to replace or repair old pipelines is moving at a snails pace. Of the 4,000 km of old pipelines,which the civic body had identified for replacement or repair,about 506.91 km have been replaced so far and about 331.3 km repaired. This means barely 20 per cent of the project has been completed in about six years. Officials from the hydraulic engineering department of the BMC said one of the main reasons behind slow work is lack of no objection certificates from the traffic police department. Many old pipelines run underground below roads that carry heavy traffic. In such cases,it is difficult to get permission from the traffic department to dig up the road in order to replace an old pipeline. Due to this,we have been taking up replacement and repair of not more than 70 km in one financial year, said an official. Transition losses,which means losses due to leakage or theft,eat away 20 per cent of the citys daily supply of 3,350 million litres. Wear and tear of these old pipelines,some nearly 100 years old,and old sewer lines running parallel to these old pipelines,frequently cause contaminated water to reach homes. Since 2005,BMC has spent over Rs 500 crore on the work done,while an additional provision of Rs 105 crore has been sanctioned in this years budget. Water supply augmentation projects constitute 33 per cent of the total estimated capital expenditure for 2010-11. As on December 1,307.83 km of pipelines have been replaced and 233.79 km repaired in the island city division. At the same time,only 64 km have been replaced and 33.53 km repaired in the western suburbs and 134 km replaced and 64 km repaired in the eastern suburbs. In 2008-09,35 km of pipelines were replaced and 96 km repaired,while in 2009-10,64 km were replaced and 47 km were repaired. Last year,62 km were replaced and 26 km were repaired. Another reason for the slow progress on the project has been the rising price of steel. All new pipelines are to be made of mild steel. In the past three years,the price of steel has been rising steadily. Contractors say they cannot complete the work within the funds allocated, said the official.
