JOIN USCorporators in the city have got a new pretext to dig the road – Replacing the six-inch diameter pipes with nine-inch pipes. At the receiving end are citizens who commute on these roads and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
To address the damage caused to the road by regular digging, the BBMP has constituted a coordination committee comprising officials of BBMP, Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), Bescom and telephone department.
However, in most of the cases, the BWSSB, Bescom and telecom companies never approach the BBMP. Besides, the damage caused to roads by the corporators never comes up for discussion in the coordination committee as the works are carried out without informing the higher-ups.
Take for example, the road dug up at Kudremukh Colony in Koramangala. The BBMP engineers are not aware that the road has been damaged. Ward corporator M Chandrappa said permission has not been taken for digging the road.
“There was an urgency to replace the ‘age-old’ sanitary pipes with the nine-inch pipes as the existing underground drains used to get clogged every now and then. Once the pipes are laid we will asphalt the road and make it motorable in the next three months,” said Chandrappa.
Though maintenance and replacement of underground drains are the responsibility of BWSSB and the BBMP in core Bengaluru, the corporators utilise BBMP funds earmarked for the ward-level works under the ‘urgent work’ category.
BWSSB’s role
A BBMP engineer in the Major Roads division said new potholes are surfacing in the city because of BWSSB. “At many places in the core Bengaluru area, the BWSSB is replacing the existing Cauvery pipelines with new ones as the old ones are rusted. The BWSSB never repairs the road immediately, compelling us to take up the road repair work. It is an extra financial burden on the BBMP,” the engineer said.
A top BBMP official said Raj Bhavan Road has been damaged recently because of leakage in old pipelines. “We cannot stop BWSSB from fixing the leakage as it is an urgent work but it is painful to see a good road being damaged,” said the officer.
He conceded that the corporators too contribute significantly in damaging the roads. He recalled an incident where the BBMP commissioner had seized the equipment from construction workers who were digging the road for laying sanitary lines without informing the BBMP. “When the corporator learnt about it, he came rushing to explain the reason for digging the road,” he added.
When contacted, the BBMP commissioner N Manjunath Prasad said maintenance of roads is a challenge given various utilities run under the road. “In the past one year, we rejected at least 50% of the proposals to dig the roads as they were laid recently and were within the defect liability period,” said Prasad. He added that the BWSSB deposits money with the BBMP whenever it carries out any repair work.