Nashik: Water supply continued to be disrupted in some parts of Nashik city on Monday, even a week after a two-day shutdown undertaken for repair and maintenance works, with residents alleging that supply has not been restored fully.Some residents also said they did not receive water tankers from the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) despite repeated requests during the disruption period.Taking serious cognisance of the disruption in various pockets across the city over the past week, mayor Himgauri Aher held a meeting with senior officials of the water supply department of the civic body, and directed them to take immediate measures to restore supply in areas where it has been disrupted.During the meeting, Aher and deputy mayor Vilas Shinde expressed strong dissatisfaction over the failure to ensure smooth water distribution across the city despite several elevated water tanks constructed by the municipal corporation across the city.It has been observed that a shortage of trained staff and a lack of experienced officials affected the functioning of the water supply department. To address the issue, the mayor directed officials to convene a special meeting by April 17 to explore the possibility of utilising the experience of retired employees.Of the 17 elevated water tanks proposed by NMC, work on 10 has been completed. However, leakage was reported in one of the tanks. Taking serious note of the poor quality of work, the mayor ordered that the contractor concerned be blacklisted.The mayor also instructed that contractors responsible for damaging pipelines during their works, leading to water leakage, should be penalised and made to pay five times the cost of the damage. It was further directed that no bills of contractors should be cleared without a no-objection certificate from the water supply department.Civic officials said during the meeting that several water leakages occurred at various locations due to ongoing works to underground BSNL cables and MSEDCL power lines as part of Kumbh Mela-related projects. While the works are in their final stages, MSEDCL sought a 10-day extension to complete them. Officials expressed hope that the inconvenience to citizens would reduce in a few days.The mayor warned that strict action would be taken against the officials concerned if the water supply situation did not stabilise by the end of April. During the meeting, the mayor strongly reprimanded officials, questioning their accountability and remarking, “How do you even manage to sleep at night?”
