Tender for chlorinator plant care: 'Lazy' BWSSB officials may face action

The Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is likely to take disciplinary action against the erring officials who have prepared a tender document for the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) of 35 chlorinator plants without personally verifying their working condition.

BWSSB chairman T M Vijay Bhaskar said that the officials were either lazy or must have considered the matter less important because the tenders were of “a small amount.” “The Board will take disciplinary action against the officials concerned based on an internal inquiry report,” he told Deccan Herald.

“To minimise the residual chlorine before supplying water to the consumers, the BWSSB has set up 35 chlorinator plants (CP) at different ground level reservoirs (GLRs). The officials, however, floated tender to maintain these plants without verifying the condition of these plants. As of now, only 22 out of the 35 CPs are functioning. However, tenders were not floated to maintain six CPs, which were set up under Cauvery Stage IV, Phase II scheme as the O&M contract for these CPs is still in force,” a source in the BWSSB said.

When contacted, BWSSB Chief Engineer (Quality Assurance) T N Sonnappa Reddy said the tender document was prepared before he took charge.

“I have submitted the entire file to the chairman for action,” he said, and added that due to staff shortage, the officials depend on the junior-level officers who are at these plants for data, as these plants are spread across the City in nine divisions. Reddy said that the Board has prepared an estimate to set up an additional nine chlorinator plants in the City. He said that there is a proposal before the Board to fix sensors at strategic points in the low-lying areas, slums and hospitals, to study the quality of water online. “The move will present the quality of water supplied to the consumers online, while in the existing procedure the officials test the water throughout its distribution network through sample method,” he said.
DH News Service