BBMP contractor chips away metro pillar base in Halasuru

A part of a metro pillar (pile cap) in Halasuru was exposed and a corner was chipped away by excavators hired by a BBMP contractor remodelling a stormwater drain. This prompted senior BMRCL officials to visit the site on Tuesday.

The incident came to light on Tuesday morning when a resident alerted news reporters to the possible damage caused to the pillar, whose pile cap has replaced the wall of the stormwater drain (SWD) near Venkateshwara Temple in Halasuru.

The BBMP contractor was clearing the silt built up to three feet from the floor of the drain when workers encountered the pile cap of the pillar. Clearing the silt led to the exposure of pile cap, a significant part of the foundation for a pillar.

Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) Managing Director Anjum Parwez maintained that the incident doesn’t pose any threat to the pillar. “The pillar is intact. The exposed part will be covered with concrete, which will ensure such incidents do not occur in future. We have written to the BBMP about the need to inform the BMRCL when they take up such works in future,” he added.

Asked about the corner chipping away, he said the new concrete had taken care of it.

‘Pillar not violating SWD rules’

Residents of the area, however, noted that the problem would not have arisen had the BMRCL followed the rule while building the pillar. One side of the pillar is located inside the SWD. Isn’t it a violation of the rules, they asked.

The Revised Master Plan 2015 stipulated a buffer zone of 50, 25 and 15 metres for primary, secondary and tertiary drains. The RMP came into effect on June 25, 2007.

An official, however, said the civil construction on metro’s Reach 1 (MG Road-Baiyappanahalli) had begun two months earlier, in April 2007.

“The approvals were taken much earlier. Besides, the pillar only borders the drain,” he added.

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