Kolkata: KMC completed the diversion of water supply from the damaged pipeline beneath Tala Bridge by Thursday morning, ahead of schedule, but several parts of the city continued to face water shortage.Officials said the distribution network had dried up in many areas over the past two days and normal supply would take a few more days to restore. “The water pressure was very low. We will now slowly raise it and feed water into these networks before restoring the pressure to their normal levels. Supply will become fully normal when the normal pressure is restored,” said an official.“We cannot raise the water pressure to normal levels immediately. It must be done gradually. Else, the pipes may develop fissures,” the official added.Until pressure returns to normal, water may not reach the farthest points of the distribution network.The leak in the 1,800 mm pipeline on Monday flooded several areas and disrupted supply across north, central and parts of south Kolkata, including Shyambazar, Park Circus, Bidhan Sarani, Rajabazar, College Street, Amherst Street, Garcha Road and Bakulbagan.Sources said Kolkata received over 50 million gallons less water daily between Monday and Wednesday.“We have managed to divert the supply from the damaged pipe completely by 8.15 am on Thursday. For more than one day since the leak, we had to continue supply through the damaged pipe because there was no other option,” said a KMC official.Tankers were deployed in affected neighbourhoods on Thursday. Officials said restoring normal supply would take priority over repairing the damaged pipeline.
