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OK to dump sewage anywhere: BWSSB staff

Last Updated 21 September 2018, 19:54 IST

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) must be seeing red over the apathetic approach of civic bodies towards cleaning up lakes in the city. But for sanitary workers of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), it is “normal practice” to dispose of untreated sewage wherever they please.

At least that is what two sanitary workers did near Hosmat hospital on Wednesday. They were caught red-handed by research associate Lakshmikantha of the Namma Bengaluru Foundation.

The driver of the jetting machine vehicle and the sanitary worker are seen blatantly saying in the video that “disposing of untreated sewage anywhere is normal practice”. On Lakshmikantha’s Twitter handle, many commented about raw sewage being disposed of in many locations, including the lakes in Bengaluru.

Dinakar, in-charge, engineer, BWSSB, said the workers should ideally dispose of sewage in a nearby manhole that is functioning well, and that if only silt is collected, it has to be taken to BWSSB’s designated dump yard near Bommanahalli.

The Namma Bengaluru Foundation is most likely to file a complaint with the police and also inform the NGT.

The NGT, in its April 2017 order, had clearly stated that “If anybody is found to be dumping waste of any kind either in the lake or in the buffer zone, he shall be liable to pay an environmental compensation of Rs 5 lakh per event.”

BWSSB chairperson Tushar Giri Nath squarely blamed the sanitary workers for the “blunder”.

“Ideally, they should have disposed of the sanitary waste in a manhole which is working fine or the nearest sewage treatment plant. We are going to educate our sanitary workers on how to dispose of untreated sewage and also brief our engineers to monitor the same,” he said.

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(Published 21 September 2018, 19:47 IST)

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