Manholes being shifted to road corners in city, says George

Steps are being taken to shift manholes found in the middle of the road and elevate their height to the road level to avoid sewage runoffs and road accidents, said Bengaluru Development Minister K J George on Thursday.

Replying to BJP MLC Tara Anuradha in the Legislative Council, George said there were 1.5 lakh manholes in the Bengaluru city limits, and many of them were in the center of the road.  

He said the BWSSB was continuously taking up shifting (to road corners) or repair works of manholes. As many as 7,115 manholes had been shifted in 2015-15; 10,090 in 2015-16;   and 15,900 in 2016-17.  

He also said that underground drainage lines had been shifted below pedestrian paths along the TenderSURE roads.

With regard to the recent manhole deaths in the city, George said the government has taken adequate measures to ensure that only machines are used to  clean manholes and septic tanks.

George said that though the BWSSB had trained staff, a majority of the apartment complexes were not employing their services as they thought it to be a costly procedure. Such deaths are recurring as untrained people are  being engaged for this cleaning purpose, he said, adding that the BWSSB had been repeatedly appealing to citizens to employ their services to avoid untoward incidents.

George said the government had paid a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the deceased.

Tara urged the government to change the 'manhole' nomenclature as the  usage sounded derogatory.