No water in OCWL pipelines since two months
The 24x7 water supply scheme was supposed to providing citizens with uninterrupted and uncontaminated water supply. However, due to lack of coordination between private operator Orange City Water Limited (OCWL) and Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), Jaripatka locality is without piped water for two months. The work of laying new pipelines in the area was finished two months ago. OCWL had told the residents that they would start getting water in a day or two through new pipes but their taps continue to be dry. Jaripatka resident Shankar Gulani said, "since the residents stopped getting tap water, OCWL has been sending tankers free of cost. However, it is making us run from pillar to post for getting a tanker. On Wednesday morning I went to Bezonbagh overhead tank for booking a tanker. The OCWL and NMC employees asked me to talk to another until I started screaming at them. Then a man called Dipak told me to get a letter from corporator Suresh Jagyasi if I wanted a tanker. When I asked him to show the rulebook, he immediately relented," an infuriated Gulani said.Another resident Laxmi Sadhwani is despondent. "They haven't sent a tanker even though I booked it four days ago. We have run out of water and are borrowing it from neighbours. How can they make us wait for so long in peak summer," she asked.KB Saklecha said that the earth dug up while laying the pipelines was still lying in the lanes and bylanes of Jaripatka. "This has reduced parking space and in some cases people can't take their vehicles inside their home," he demanded. Ex-corporator Vedprakash Arya charged that OCWL engineers had still not been able to have a grip on the system.Corporator Suresh Jagyasi denied the charge that he had asked OCWL to make residents produce a letter signed by him for getting a tanker. "I have asked them to provide tankers on first-come-first-served basis. If anybody drops names he should not be entertained. OCWL has deployed 11 tankers but it is inadequate. The company claimed that after the two day shutdown water pressure will increase in areas where tap water is still available but the opposite has happened," he said.OCWL spokesperson Sachin Dravekar said the work of laying pipelines in Bezonbagh-Jaripatka area was going on. "About 8.4 km out of total 9.2 km has been laid. Water is being supplied to around 6 km. The remaining part will be completed soon. We also have to provide around 5,000 service connections in Jaripatka. As for the debris, it is part of the process. First we let the debris sink in and then do the concreting," he claimed.
