A stretch of road in the Talegaon Dabhade area of rural Pune suddenly gave way to a powerful jet of water shooting up from the middle of the street, startling passers by in the area. A nearby CCTV camera caught the entire spectacle on tape, and once the clip surfaced, the incident quickly became the talk of the neighbourhood.
A pipeline laid a year and a half ago, and a joint that gave way during testing
According to the details that have emerged, a new pipeline was laid beneath this very road roughly one and a half years ago as part of a water supply scheme. Before the scheme could be formally launched, the pipeline was undergoing routine testing, and it was during this testing that a joint in the pipe came loose. The moment the joint gave way, pressure sent water bursting up through the road surface, creating a fountain like spectacle that left onlookers around the site stunned. As it happened during a pre launch test rather than after the supply had begun, the fault was caught before it could affect anyone drawing water from the new network.
Investigation blames the contractor, repair bill to be recovered from him
A subsequent inquiry found that the contractor who laid the pipeline had failed to join the pipes properly, which is why the joint gave way the moment it came under pressure during testing. Talegaon Municipal Council chief officer Girish Dapkekar said that the entire cost of repairing the pipeline and rebuilding the damaged stretch of road would be recovered from the contractor responsible. The episode remains a hot topic of conversation in the area even now. Residents who have watched the footage are stunned by what they saw, and many are also angry about the carelessness shown while the pipeline was being laid in the first place.
Another tragedy amid Pune's rains, toddler drowns in a waterlogged pit
Separately, continuous rain across Pune and its surrounding areas has been causing serious trouble for residents, with waterlogging disrupting roads and daily movement. In one recent case, a child died after drowning in a pit filled with rainwater. The incident took place on June 30 in Kadamwak Vasti within the Loni Gram Panchayat area, where a drain roughly three feet deep had filled up completely with rainwater. A two year old child fell into this drain while playing, and died as a result. Police have registered a case against the contractor associated with the drain.
According to police, this second drain had been dug alongside the main drainage channel to make it easier for rainwater to flow out, but rainwater and sewage had instead accumulated inside it. The child, who lived in a nearby settlement, is said to have accidentally fallen into the drain while playing. Officials said that once the child's parents realised he had not been seen for a while, they began searching for him, and his body was later recovered from the same drain.
