The crack had occurred as the pipeline had corroded, city engineer B K Desai told Express Newsline on Thursday. Claiming that not much water had been wasted as corrective measures had been adopted on a war-footing, Desai, however, said that the city would have to suffer a shortfall of 1,000 crore gallon water. The total supply is around 5,500 crore gallon.

A team of 40-odd people, led by Additional City Engineer B S Trapasia, have been working round-the-clock to repair the damage. The work is expected to be completed by Friday evening. Sources said plans were afoot to improve the quality of the existing cast iron pipe.

Sources said as the line had given in, some areas drawing supply from Nalanda, Tarsali and Panigate tanks did not get water on Thursday evening. While the Panigate tank can draw water from the Mahisagar river, those drawing water from other tanks might face a problem, Desai stated.