Repeated power cuts at Navegaon Khairi station cause water crisis in Nagpur during festivals
Power outages and technical faults at Nagpur's Navegaon Khairi pumping station disrupted water supply to several zones during the festive season.
Nagpur's water supply system has been badly hit in recent days due to gross negligence by Mahavitaran (MSEDCL) at the Navegaon Khairi raw water pumping station, where repeated power cuts and technical faults occurred. The trouble came during the festival season, when residents need water the most, leaving a large part of the city struggling for every drop.
According to available information, power at the Navegaon Khairi pumping station suddenly went out around 6:30 pm on September 18. It was restored several hours later at 9:55 pm, but technical faults surfaced as soon as power came back, halting work again. As a result, the process of drawing raw water could only begin at 11:30 pm. Because of this delay, the supply of treated water from the Pench I, II, III and IV water treatment plants could only start around midnight. The public bore the direct brunt of this lax handling by officials.
The pump had barely run for five hours when power went out again at 5:15 am on September 19. It was restored at 9:30 am, after which treated water supply resumed only at 10:30 am.
This entire disruption affected several parts of the city the most. Water supply was completely halted in the Laxmi Nagar, Dharampeth, Dhantoli, Gandhibagh, Mangalwari and Hanuman Nagar zones. Supply was partially disrupted in the Nehru Nagar, Satranjipura and Ashi Nagar zones.
Repeated power cuts by Mahavitaran and the resulting delays in restarting the pumps broke the roughly 10-hour water supply cycle. Areas dependent on the Pench feeder main saw disrupted supply on the morning of September 19, and the situation remained largely the same in the evening as well.
There is strong resentment among people over this irresponsible functioning by Mahavitaran and related departments during the festival season. The matter has been raised as a priority with Mahavitaran to ensure an uninterrupted power supply to the Navegaon Khairi station. The Nagpur Municipal Corporation-OCW administration says it is working to manage the situation in the affected areas and restore the evening water cycle. Citizens have also been urged to use water carefully and sparingly.
