Gurgaon: A leakage in the 1,600 mm master water pipeline at Chandu Budhera water treatment plant (WTP) has disrupted supply from one of the city’s main water sources, with new sectors bearing the brunt.Areas severely affected by the disruption include sectors 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 12 as well as sectors 81 to 115. Several other areas — such as Chandu village, Dhankot, sectors 10, 33, 37D, and 38, along with the Sector 51 boosting station serving sectors 42 to 74, and Badshapur village — also faced major supply disruptions.
The leak was detected on Friday after the pipeline shrank due to variations in temperature.The situation worsened as repair work could not be immediately carried out due to heavy water accumulation inside the water treatment plant , which first needed to be dewatered.
The problem escalated on Monday when the repair work undertaken to plug the leakage failed because of backflow in the pipeline.Officials said the damage was caused by extreme cold conditions. “The pipeline is made of steel. During very low temperatures, the metal contracts, which causes joints to loosen. This led to the leakage. Water leaked out due to the joint failure and it was necessary to dewater the site, which took time before cayying out the repair work,” the official added.At 8pm on Tuesday, GMDA said that the repair work to plug the leakage in the 1,600-mm diameter pipeline at WTP Chandu Budhera was completed. Officials said teams have been deployed to open the sluice valve and water supply is expected to be restored within the next few hours. Most housing societies and MCG’s supply boosters are expected to start receiving water between 11pm and midnight. Supply conditions across most connections are likely to improve by Wednesday.“Once the supply is restarted, it will take time for water to circulate across the city as the pipeline needs to be filled completely,” an official said. “Water generally reaches tail-end areas with some delay.”The Chandu Budhera plant supplies 400 million litres per day (MLD) to the city, while another 270 MLD is sourced from the Basai facility.“Water takes time to reach tail-end areas because the pipeline needs to be filled completely,” an official told TOI, adding, “The Basai water treatment plant was affected only briefly.
Basai is functioning normally and supplying water at full capacity.”“Our teams have worked round the clock to complete the repairs and restore the supply. However, the complexity of the damage and water backflow delayed restoration,” another official said. In Dec last year, a breach in the Gurgaon Water Supply canal disrupted the flow of raw water to the Basai treatment plant. The breach has reduced discharge to about 50 cusecs, forcing authorities to use alternative sources.In Feb 2024, the 1600mm master water pipeline burst near Hero Honda Chowk that led to disruption of water supply affecting several areas of the city. The 1600mm pipeline feeds water from Chandu Budhera water treatment plant (WTP) to Sector 51 boosting station that caters to sectors 34, 37C, 37D, 42 to 72 among other areas.Similarly, in Jan 2023, water supply in several parts were affected as the pipeline from Chandu Budhera water treatment plant to boosting stations in sector 51 detected a leak.
