Making good use of the restrictions during lockdown and post-lockdown period, the engineering section of the South Western Railway (SWR) has revived a defunct water supply system and in the process, has ensured savings of ₹ 9 lakh per month in water bills.
An engineering team of the zone executed the revival plan and reinstated the water supply system from Devaragudihal Lake which comprised relaying a total of 700 metres of pipeline along the 16-km-long stretch from lake to the city and other civil works.
Devaragudihal Lake, one of the largest water bodies in the Indian Railways with a capacity of 1,935 million litres, was constructed in 1907 by Southern Mahratta Railway to meet water requirements of the Railways in Hubballi.
The lake, surrounded by hills on three sides and a 599-metre-long bund, is spread over 382 acres of land, with surface water area of 278 acres. It is 12 km away from the city. The lake, which supplied water to the railway colonies and pit lines in Hubballi for a century, dried up in 2010 disrupting water supply. As the system lay defunct for almost a decade, the pipeline and other infrastructure had been damaged.
According to a press release, following a direction from General Manager of South Western Railway A.K. Singh and under the initiative of Additional General Manager P.K. Mishra, the team of railway officials, led by Divisional Railway Manager, Hubballi, Arvind Malkhede and Principal Chief Engineer of South Western Railway Vipul Kumar and others, executed the project worth ₹ 2.5 crore to revive the water supply system by restoring all engineering and electric works. Landscaping of the lake was also taken up under the project.
Under the revival project, cleaning of intake well, stone pitching, lake cabin room renovation, mass tree plantations and a selfie point, structural and aesthetic renovation of the pumphouse at Ahobalapur, repair of two reservoirs on the hilltop, relaying of damaged pipeline and other works were taken up and completed.
The team which executed the project comprised P. Mahender, Vamshi K. Budarapu, W.P. Ashtikar, Pawan Gadewad, J.V. Ramana Rao, Ishan Shrivastava, H.T. Prakash, Sanjay Kumar, among others.
Mr. A.K. Singh along with other officials, including P.K. Mishra, Roopa Srinivasan, Mr. Arvind Malkhede, R.K. Sharma and Mr. Vipul Kumar, inaugurated various completed works recently.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. A.K. Singh said that following heavy rain in the last two years, the lake was full to the brim now and with the revival of the old water supply system, railway colonies, station and pitlines would get adequate water. While the revival would reduce water bills, it also reiterated the commitment of Indian Railways towards protecting environment, he said.
According to the authorities, the revival of the old system would mean supply of 10 to 12 lakh litres of water to railway colonies and workshop. South Western Railway will be able to save ₹ 9 lakh per month in water bills and it will also increase the water supply frequency to the colonies and to the pitlines.
As a safety measure, apart from two solar panels and two UPS with backup power supply of six hours, 4 MP IP-based CCTV cameras have been installed at 10 locations along the water supply route, the release said.
