After being delayed by a prolonged legal dispute and algae damage to key equipment, the French-engineered musical fountain project at Futala Lake has suffered another setback, with thieves making away with expensive imported components.
A few weeks ago, workers found that five specialised nozzles imported from France had been stolen from the floating fountain structures. According to project consultant Satish Salpekar of M/s Studio One Khalatkar Construction Consortium, the thieves swam to the floating installations and removed the metal nozzles.
“We never expected anyone to swim across the lake and steal the nozzles,” Salpekar said. The incident has not yet been reported to the police.
Although the exact value of the stolen components has not been calculated, Salpekar said the nozzles were an integral part of the fountain system and cost thousands of rupees. He added that local manufacturers were approached for replacements, but they could not replicate the precision of the French-made nozzles, which are designed to create specific water display effects.
Following the theft, the contractor has decided to step up security at the site by installing CCTV cameras and night-vision surveillance systems to protect the floating fountain infrastructure.
The musical fountain consists of multiple units with around 100 nozzles, of which the targeted unit contained 10. Since the project is yet to be commissioned, the cables and nozzles are still floating on the lake surface. They will be installed underwater only after the system becomes operational, leaving the costly equipment exposed in the meantime.
The contractor has already replaced the old wiring with algae-resistant cables after the earlier damage caused by algae growth. However, the project remains incomplete as the French technical team is yet to return to Nagpur to carry out the final electrical integration. The control panel wiring still needs to be connected to the underground cable network before the musical fountain can be made operational.
Apart from these issues, garbage dumped into the lake continues to obstruct the work, making the installation process more challenging and causing further delays.
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