JOIN USLegal, environment challenges slow down UGD project progress
The progress of the underground drainage (UGD) project in the city is hindered as the completion of work on the pipeline and wetwell has been a challenge.
The outfall pipeine is being laid to facilitate the flow of sewage in pipes of 2.75 to 3 foot diameter, which connect to wetwells and sewage treatment plants.Currently, the sewage is flowing in pipes of 0.5 to 0.75 foot diameter in the city.
The areas where the outfall pipeline is supposed to pass through includes slopes and gorges.
Even as two Hitachi machines are being used to level the ground, but only seven to eight pipes can be laid per day. Out of 18 km, only 12 km has been covered to lay the pipes of 800 mm diameter and 10 foot width. The work on the remaining 6 km is progressing at a snail’s pace. Moreover, private land owners are against the laying of pipelines in their land. The pipes are being buried at places which are closer to Moorumanehalli, Dantaramakki brooks and government canals. When dug, water oozes out and this has made the task of laying the pipes further difficult, a drainage Board official said.
Out of the three wetwells required to set up a sewage treatment plant (STP), work on the two wetwells are at the final stage.The work on the wetwell at Hiremagaluru has been affected as the locals have approached the court opposing the work.
A source said, a notification was issued in 2013 to acquire land for the construction of a septic tank at Karkipete and a wetwell at Hiremagaluru.
Questioning the move, a private entity filed a case in the district court. The court favoured the CMC and the board with respect to Hiremagaluru work.However, the court canclled the notification in connection with the work at Karkipete. Based on this judgment, the locals in Hiremagaluru filed an appeal in the court seeking a stay order against the construction of the wetwell, the source added.
A board official said the underground sewage from the city, excluding Dantaramakki Extension and one side of the bypass road, can be transferred for treatment into two wetwells being built near the STP. But the UGD pipelines at Dantaramakki Extension and the right side of the bypass road have been laid to carry the sewage to Hiremagaluru wetwell. If the land issue in Hiremagaluru is not solved, 30 per cent of the sewage from the UGD cannot be transferred to the STP.
There are no obstacles to treat the rest 70 per cent waste water, the official added.
However, some officials in the board and the CMC denied it. They said the blueprint of the project was prepared with a focus on Hiremagaluru wetwell.
The work is being carried out accordingly. The entire UGD system and the STP are based on this plan. The UGD connection cannot be established without building wetwell in Hiremagaluru or in an alternative land, they added.
If the third wetwell is omitted from the project, the sewage from UGD will flow in the opposite direction and will enter every house, they said.
PIL filed
Hiremagaluru Puttaswamy and others, who have filed a public interest litigation in the court, said, “How can we allow the project to continue when an example of creating nuisance to the people of Indavar by dumping the garbage without scientifically segregating it is right in front of us? If the project is implemented, the place will not be fit for living.”
“The wetwel, proposed to be constructed here, is just 100 metre away from primary health centre, temple, government school, Kalyana Mantapa and the colony where hundreds of people live”, they claimed.