Queen's Corner case: BWSSB suspends two engineers

'Builder shifted waterpipes without consent'

Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has suspended its two engineers for dereliction of duty and involvement in shifting of water feeder pipeline from the High Grounds service station to Shivajinagar. 

In a circular issued on June 30, the BWSSB chairman has said that assistant executive engineer Shashidhar and assistant engineer R Raghu have been suspended for not discharging their duties and has ordered for a departmental inquiry. Disciplinary action has been taken against both the engineers under rule 10(1)(D) of the Karnataka Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1957.

A BWSSB official said that the engineers would be suspended for a while. However, they could be reinstated, but they would not be allowed to continue at the same place.
In the circular, the Board's chairman has also stated that Legacy Global Projects Pvt Ltd, while excavating the earth for its work, has shifted the 15-inch cast iron pipeline laid in the pre-Independence era.

The Board has said that Legacy replaced the cast iron pipe with mild steel pipe without its permission and in violation of  the conditions of the Board. The circular says that while excavating the earth for laying the foundation, Legacy has not taken any necessary precautionary measures. It has not only affected pipelines, but also the foundation of the Queen’s Corner apartment building located in the neighbourhood, it said.  

 Since the pipelines are shifted and partly replaced, it has not been possible for the BWSSB engineers to inspect the pipelines.  Besides, the old pipelines which have been removed, have not been returned to the Board. According to the  BWSSB official, nearly 20 tonnes of cast iron pipelines costing lakhs of rupees have gone missing. 

Legacy's prolonged excavation work and leakage of pipelines have loosened the soil beneath, which has affected the Income Tax quarters building housing seven families and one of the blocks of the Queen’s Corner apartments on Cunningham Road, the circular said.