Meghalaya: PHED seeks inquiry and action over NHIDCL road work triggering major water pipeline damage

CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG: As Shillong reels under days of acute water scarcity, the Meghalaya Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) has sought a formal inquiry into the role of NHIDCL road construction in damaging a critical water pipeline, with the minister in charge asserting that action must follow strictly as per the inquiry report.

Minister in charge of PHE, Meghalaya, Marcuise N Marak said, "We are trying to request the government from the government level, enquiry should be conducted and action should be taken as per the inquiry report." The minister underlined that the disruption was not a routine technical failure but a consequence of infrastructure work carried out over an existing pipeline.

Explaining the cause and complexity of the crisis, Marak said, "This has happened actually, you know well inside the NHIDCL constructed newly constructed road crore and the leakage was well inside the newly constructed NHIDCL road and it was very difficult to excavate to the point where the pipe is leak, so therefore, the department has no option but to go for the alternative line, around stretches of 300 meters new line has been created, pipes, have been laid for which it has taken sometime, I think altogether till today, it has taken eight days."

He added that repairing the damaged section was impossible due to its location beneath the highway. "So therefore new line has to be created because the earlier line which was broken and water was leakage inside could not be repaired at all, because of the NHIDCL work," he said.

Marak pointed out that the incident occurred even as the PHE department was already in the process of pipe realignment due to highway construction. "This has happened at the same time, when PHE department is realigning the pipes because of the highway construction by NHIDCL, so fortunately, we have taken some NOCs and some permissions which whatever was required for laying the pipes, all alongside the road, otherwise it would have taken so long," he said.

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