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Post-PIL, BWSSB wants to shift pipelines from drain at DJ Halli

Hare-brained approach to sewage line, but Board says it has no choice
Last Updated 14 May 2015, 18:37 IST

The problem of sewage water flowing inside stormwater drains (SWDs) may never be solved as even today BWSSB lays the pipelines inside SWDs meant only for rainwater.

The woes are compounded during rains as sewage and rainwater mix and overflow on to the roads, as the pipelines get corroded with time and break.

Six years ago, BWSSB had laid sewer sub-main pipelines of 450 mm diameter inside the SWD from DJ Halli police station to Shampura main road for a distance of three km.

Today, the pipelines are broken. They get submerged inside the SWD during rains, with sewage and rainwater mixing up and flooding nearby houses.

After a public interest litigation was filed before the High Court to remove encroachment all along the drain by a resident, BWSSB has now dashed off a letter to BBMP to clear the encroaching building, so that they could shift the sewage pipelines outside the SWD.

The Board has said that they want to shift the pipelines so that only rainwater can flow smoothly inside the drain. The pipelines were laid at a cost of around Rs 10 lakh. BWSSB will now be shifting the pipelines at escalated costs.
 
Udayashankar, the resident who had filed the PIL, says that BWSSB had done a shoddy job when the pipelines were laid and now they want to spend the taxpayers’ money again for the same work.

“The sewage is not flowing inside these pipelines as they are all broken now. Whenever it rains, the whole area gets flooded and sewage enters the houses,” he said.

But the larger question remains as to why BWSSB laid the pipelines inside the SWD, despite knowing that it is not advisable to have such huge sub-main lines inside the SWD.

But T Venkataraju, engineer-in-chief of BWSSB, says they do it only because they have no choice.

“The BWSSB is left with no choice, but to lay pipelines inside the SWD, as there is no space in the vicinity,” he said. Normally, the Board officials conduct a study before laying the pipelines and only if the project is technically feasible, the work is taken up.

“We ensure that good quality pipelines that last at least 15 years are used,” he said.

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(Published 14 May 2015, 18:37 IST)

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