“Who will take responsibility and pay for the tons of water wastage?” — S’poreans ask after burst underground pipe flooded parts of Marine Parade

SINGAPORE: On Friday morning (Oct 4), a water pipe was damaged during lift retrofitting works at Marine Parade, causing flooding in portions of the area, including Marine Drive and Still Road South.

Construction workers accidentally hit a 300mm diameter underground water pipe near the pedestrian overhead bridge near Block 67 Marine Drive at around 11:40 am.

Marine Parade Member of Parliament Tan See Leng wrote in a Facebook post that while the mishap caused water to flow onto Still Road South and the surrounding HDB blocks, repairs were carried out immediately, and the water supply to nearby residential units had not been disrupted.

By 4:53 pm, Dr Tan noted in a separate post that road access along Still Road South had resumed.

Photos and videos of the incident, which saw waters reaching an ankle to nearly knee-deep height, were widely shared online.

The Straits Times reported that some parts of buildings, including a convenience store and a lift lobby, were also flooded.

Commenting on news reports about the incident, a number of netizens expressed concern over the water that was wasted due to the mishap. Many others, however, appeared to have more questions than answers.

Water Pipe Burst at ECP Marine Parade Exit
byu/Chaosli0n insingapore

“Who will be paying for the tons of water wastage? Besides all other expenses incurred. How about inconvenience to the public and residents there?” asked one.

Others fretted that the water wastage would be reflected in their coming bills.

Another observed: “More and more such sloppy works in Singapore. No such happened in the past 20-30 years ago without current technology. So what went wrong with high-tech technology, and still such a thing happened???”

“Who’s gonna take responsibility?” asked a Facebook user, saying someone must answer for the mishap. One was more puzzled than upset, writing, “Shouldn’t the drainage system be working well to prevent a flood?”

Others, however, appeared to see the lighter side of the incident, writing that what occurred was not flooding but merely “ponding.”

With last week’s train disruption, some quipped that it’s the east side’s turn for trouble this week. “The West Side people have had their fun, now it’s East Side’s turn,” was one comment.

“Hope north is ok next week,” another quipped. A Reddit user joked that the incident was an example of “when nature decides Singapore needs another waterpark.” /TISG

Read also: MSE: No escalating trend in hawker rents after S$8K Marine Parade Central Hawker Centre bid