[ Manoj Singh ]
ITANAGAR, 7 Jul: The public health engineering department (PHED) on Friday informed that the main water supply pipeline which supplies water to most parts of Itanagar has been damaged following a massive landslide triggered by rainfall near Poma village in Sangdupota circle, and that its restoration may take a month.
The department’s officials informed that areas within Itanagar, such as Gohpur Tinali, Vivek Vihar, Economic & Statistic Colony, G Sector, Donyi Colony, Police Colony, SRPL Colony, DNGC area, Chandranagar, Chimpu, H Sector, RK Mission area, and Akashdeep may not receive water supply following the damage.
Earlier in the day, a team of officers, led by PHED SE Tayum Tok Camdir and EE Tadar Mangku inspected the damaged pipelines and found that landslides occurred at multiple locations within a stretch of 9-10 kms up to the river intake point area.
The SE informed reporters that the major fault has been detected at the 1.5 – 2 km point, at some distance from Poma village.
“The main pipeline was washed away, while a few pipelines were completely submerged in the debris, and could not be retrieved due to massive landslides. The alignment of the pipeline was washed away and a new formation and alignment needs to be created,” Camdir said.
“It is a challenging task and may take around a month if the heavy downpour continues. The portion of the road, measuring around 400 metres, leading to the water intake point is also washed away and needs to be reconstructed,” he informed.
“Consumers have to bear with the inconvenience till restoration work is complete. In the meantime, three tankers will be pressed into service. The tankers will fill their tanks from the refilling station located in Senki view. Even private tankers and individuals may use the service of the refilling station at Senki View,” the SE stated.
Itanagar PHED Division EE Tadar Mangku said that “the city’s residents may inform the PHED enquiry in case they need water from the tankers.”
He appealed to the residents to also tap rainwater for all purposes, including drinking, after properly boiling the water.
