The Pune Municipal Corporation has rejected a contractor’s explanation over substandard sewer pipeline work under the Mula-Mutha River Pollution Control Project and ordered the defective sections to be rebuilt and damaged pipelines to be replaced.
The action follows concerns over work being carried out near Tilak Bridge, Sambhaji Garden and Lakdi Bridge, where a 1,600-mm-diameter sewer pipeline is currently being installed in the riverbed. According to the report, sections near Tilak Bridge were laid in mud, pipeline joints were not properly connected and a ring used to join the pipes was found broken.
The municipal administration had issued a show-cause notice to the contractor after the issue was reported by Sakal. The contractor was given 48 hours to submit an explanation. PMC officials have now rejected the response, according to information provided by superintendent engineer Sanjay Gaikwad.
The contractor will be instructed to redo all work found to be substandard, replace damaged sewer pipes and follow scientifically prescribed procedures for transporting and joining the pipelines, Gaikwad said. The report did not identify the contractor or specify the estimated cost of the remedial work.
The work forms part of the Pollution Abatement of River Mula-Mutha project, being implemented under the central government’s National River Conservation Plan with financial assistance from Japan’s Japan International Cooperation Agency, or JICA. The project has been under construction for about four years.
Sewage treatment plant works under the project are reported to be 95 per cent complete. However, only 21 kilometres of the planned 53-kilometre sewer network had been installed over the same period, leaving about 32 kilometres still to be completed. The municipal corporation has directed the contractor to accelerate the pipeline work.
The sewer network is intended to support the project’s effort to prevent untreated sewage from entering the Mula and Mutha rivers. Its quality and completeness are therefore directly linked to whether the treatment infrastructure can function as planned once the sewage treatment plants are ready.
The report also raised questions about PMC’s supervision of the work. Tender conditions and Indian Standards require technical scrutiny of pipeline installation, including transportation, placement and jointing. A separate project cell has reportedly been established for the river pollution-control programme, with engineers assigned to oversee its execution.
PMC’s current action is focused on rectification. The administration has stated that defective work will be carried out again, but the report said no decision had been taken to impose a penalty or other punishment on the contractor. The immediate next step is the formal communication directing the contractor to repair or replace the affected work and complete pipeline installation according to prescribed technical procedures.
