KOLHAPUR: The Kolhapur Municipal Corporation is set to ask citizens to limit use of water — a move it hopes will reduce the flow of sewage in the Jayanthi nullah.Strong sewage flow remains a major hurdle in the construction of a concrete structure in the nullah, being built to carry pipelines ferrying sewage from a pumping station to the treatment plant at Kasba Bawada On Saturday, the bridge project didn't have an auspicious start when one of the two excavators, hired to remove damaged pipes in the nullah, fell into the drain. There were no injuries.The pipelines had been damaged to due to heavy rains and officials said work could start only after their removal. Authorities are also waiting for the sewage flow in the nullah to cease in strength. A proposal to place dams at regular intervals in the drain had met stiff resistance from activists who said the structures could divert sewage water into nearby homes.A senior KMC official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said: "We are going to ask citizens nearby to stop release of waste water into the nullah. Only then can construction of this concrete bridge start. The stretch, where work on the concrete bridge is set to start soon, needs to be completely dry. It will help us lay the foundations correctly."Several homes here have no drainage connections and waste water is being released into open drains that are linked to the Jayanthi nullah. This means that around 40 million litres of waste water is ejected into the nullah every day by houses along a stretch starting from Kalamba lake to the Khanvilkar petrol pump.

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