PANAJI: Indiscriminate dumping of mud over the crucial water pipeline catering to several government establishments on the Bambolim plateau damaged it on Thursday night, severely affecting supply.Dry taps at the Goa Medical College and Hospital ( GMC ), its hostel, and in the villages of St Cruz, Siridao and Curca, caused hardships to patients, doctors and villagers alike, as officials of the public works department tried to locate the fault, with little success, over two days.The problem spot was found only on Saturday evening, after digging 10 metres deep along the St Cruz slope.This is the eighth time in just a few months that the pipeline has burst due to road-widening work. Laid on a slight elevation through a field in St Cruz many years ago, the conduit cannot withstand the pressure of huge quantities of mud dumped on it as part of the ongoing highway construction, causing it to crack open. It has been buried 10 metres deep in the mud in some areas, hampering the timely detection of breaches.“The pipeline has burst at least eight times on this stretch due to dumping of huge quantities of mud,” Arturo D’Souza, a local activist, said.A PWD official said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had earlier been requested not to carry out any road work till the pipeline was relocated. “Shifting of the pipeline has to be done on priority as members of the general public are suffering,” the official said.The PWD has been catering to some of the affected areas with tanker water supply. “But this is only as per people’s demand. We cannot cover all affected areas,” another department official said. “We are hoping there is no other fault so that we can restore supply shortly.”

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