MUMBAI, February 22: Twelve houses suffered extensive damage today when a seven-inch water pipeline burst near the Katai octroi Naka off Dombivli, 70 km from Mumbai. Eye-witnesses said the water rose around 250 feet before crashing down on the houses bringing down their roofs and carrying in its torrent beds, refrigerators, televisions and almirahs. No casualties were reported. The mishap has brought to a complete halt the water supply to Badlapur, Ambernath, Ulhasnagar, Kalyan, Dombivli, the Thane-Belapur Industrial belt and Navi Mumbai. MIDC executive engineer T K Yadav said they were trying to restore the supply by midnight.Residents said they were woken up by a thunderous roar at around 12.15 am. However, even before they could get out of their beds they were hit by the torrent. ``My family was fast asleep when I heard a deafening roar,'' recalled Sunil Chaudhary (30).``I first thought it was one of those huge trailers passing by. But soon my kitchen roof came crashing down and within seconds wewere engulfed by water from all sides.it just never stopped pouring,'' he added sitting in the ruins of what was once his ancestral house.His house being the closest to the spot where the pipe burst was the hardest hit. But, even his neighbours have lost just about everything. ``Above the roar of the gushing water we could hear women and children screaming,'' Chaudhary said adding that it was impossible to help anybody as it was pitch dark. Women and children from the Chaudhary family sat huddled in a corner next to the broken staircase which once led to the second storey of their house. The TV, VCP, refrigerator and some pieces of furniture that they were able to collect after the water supply was discontinued looked like they were put in a spin tub.The four children of the family (two of whom are appearing for the SSC and HSC exams this year) have lost all their books in the deluge.Chaudhary has lodged a police complaint blaming the MIDC. ``The villagers had complained to the MIDC officials morethan two months ago about the leak. It is the same spot which has burst open,'' he said.But, Executive Engineer T K Yadav said villagers themselves puncture pipes to draw water. ``The heavy pressure (7.5 kg/cm2) must have caused one such leaks to blow up.''Meanwhile a senior MIDC official revealed that they were forced to ignore the leak because of intense pressure from industries located in the Thane-Belapur belt. ``The industries, particularly in the Thane-Belapur belt, which depend on this pipeline for water supply suffer a loss of around Rs 50-60 lakh if the water supply is stopped even for a day,'' he said, adding, ``the pressure against shutting down supply for repairs was high and the leakages were left unattended.''The official also alleged that local politicians encourage villagers and the brick kiln owners (most of which are illegal) to create leakages and procure water from pipelines.But villagers said the entire village has been punished for what a few people did. They areparticularly unhappy about what they called ``an inordinate dealy'' by the fire brigade in reaching the spot. ``We called them at 12.30 am and they arrived around 2 am,'' pointed out Janya Bhoir, a village resident. ``They did not do anything.just watched as our houses were being washed away,'' he charged.However, the Dombvli fire brigade sub-officer, Vasant K Dhulap, denied that there was any delay on their part. ``We were on the spot in less than ten minutes of receiving the call and immediately got in touch with the MIDC officials in Badlapur and at the pumping station in Jambli so that water supply could be stopped to carry out repairs,'' he claimed.
