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THANE/MUMBAI: A ruptured BMC water main sprung a high-pressure leak in the Wagle Estate area here, flooding hundreds of slum shanties and industrial units alongside the pipeline even as the water and sludge submerged the road at Raghunath Nagar and Kisan Nagar areas in Thane (w) and travelled up to the Mulund check post at the LBS road on Saturday.

The 72-inch cast iron over-the-ground water mains which transports water from the Tansa lake to Mumbai was installed more t than 100 years back. Experts were unable to definately declare if the break was due to corrosion, the age of the pipeline or any other man-made cause.

The civic administration and the disaster management team rushed to the spot to evacuate the residents who were caught unawares as water flooded their homes in minutes leaving little time to bring out their belongings.

One person Ashok Yadav (40), a resident of the shanties here, was sleeping and before he could make a hasty exit the water had reaced waist-deep virtuallyn drowning him in his house. He was later pulled out to safety by the residents but water had entered his lungs and he was rushed to the Thane civil hospital.

``At abour 4 pm or so I heard a loud noise and commotion in the lane. As I looked out from my house I saw water gushing on the streets and rushing into the homes in the area. The women and the elderly were seen running out with their children as some tried to bring out the TV sets, clothes and cooking vessels,’’ said Anandibai, a resident of the Kisan Nagar slums.

Thane guardian minister Eknath Shinde rushed to the spot and waded through waist-deep water personally asking people to come out of their homes and not to bother about their TV sets or other belongings.

The rescue operations were hampered as the fire brigade personnel could not get acess into the narrow bylanes and were later found struggling to install high-powered electric motors to flush out the water from the flooded homes.

Meanwhile, the BMC has announced a 20 per cent water cut in the state capital for the next two days as thousands of litres of potable water was wasted. A team of BMC officials rushed to the spot and were sucessfull in controlling the water pressure after they shut down the valve on the lower side of the pipeline.

A BMC officer requested citizen to use the water judiciously considering the development. They said that they are monitoring the situation and coordinating with concern authority to repair the pipeline. The BMC officers discussing if there can be any alternative option to resume the water supply on Sunday accordingly they will take decision about further water cut.

BMC officer Ramesh Bhamble said the ruptured pipeline, which is more than a decade old, will be shut down within an years time. Instead water would be routed through the underground water pipes after the micro-tunneling project, linking the new water mains from Kapurbawdi to Bhandup filteration plant, is completed shortly.

The state revenue officials will soon undertake a physical survey of the residential pockets to assess the damage and after a detailed panchanama of the loss, the affected families would be given cash relief.