Day before ensuring a safe Ganpati immersion, cops in Worli colony spend day fetching water as taps run dry because of pump breakdown
A cop residing in the area helps his family members gather water
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A day before ensuring a safe Ganpati Visarjan today, 300-odd policemen residing at the Worli police quarters spent all of Monday filling water for their families. While they were receiving dismal water supply for a week, they completely stopped getting any water whatsoever on Monday because their pumping machines stopped working.
Residents had been getting dismal water supply for a week before it completely stopped on Monday. Pics/Tanvi Phondekar
The Worli police line is a colony home to hundreds of cops and also has the official quarters for constables and IPS officers. When its residents inquired about the issue with constables deputed to release water in the tanks, they were told that two of three pumps are not working.
Can't help
They immediately contacted the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Deputy Commissioner of Police (LA-3) to tell them about their problem. While the senior cop didn't pay any attention to it PWD officials said they couldn't resolve the issue as they were tackling issues caused by the August 29 flooding.
"They also said there was no reason to worry because one pump was still working," said a constable. Ganesh Chandanshive, assistant engineer, PWD said, "There was a short circuit in the pump's motor, which caused the problem.
The only pump that was working couldn't bear the load and was also facing some issues. We will definitely work on it tomorrow."
Last pump tanks
A week before the crisis, residents had been receiving water for only 10-15 minutes. After battling that, more than 500 of them gathered in the colony yesterday and were shocked to know from supply orderlies that the last pump had also stopped working.
Many cops decided to bathe at police stations. "I decided to directly go to the police station to take a bath," said a said a sub inspector, adding, "I managed to get three buckets of water for my family. It is so depressing that the higher authorities don't have time to address our issues." Constables and female staff still fear raising the issue, as it would draw attention towards them. "Our houses are in a sorry state and now we are facing this, if we contact our seniors, they threaten us in one way or another," said a constable.
MLA arrives
Local MLA Sunil Shinde reached the spot and spoke to PWD officials, who said that repairs would take some time. Shinde said, "I had raised this issue with PWD. They have to empty the tank to repair the submersible pump. Till then, residents have to rely on tanker supply."
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