Wary chief dodges residents

But well aware of the water situation and apparently wary of a possible public outrage, he arrived much ahead of the scheduled meeting with the residents’ representatives and vanished in no time after speaking with a small crowd present there.

Rampant unauthorised water connections coupled with insufficient supply have resulted in unequal distribution of water in the Pulakeshinagar Constituency, leaving the denizens high and dry, especially in DJ Halli, Shahzab Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar, Munimarappa Block, Venkatappa Block, SR Block and Shivaji Road.

“Though we are in a city, we feel like our area is still stuck in the 1970s and 1980s when we used to carry water pots in bicycles. People here leave all their work... only to get water and store it. The crisis has led to a big water mafia,” says Dharma Gowda, who heads an association fighting for water.

“What is more astonishing is all water valves in this area are being manipulated by the BWSSB,” he adds.

20 valves on single road

During inspection, it was found that there were 20 valves on a single road, all controlled by local “leaders”. Residents complained about valvemen demanding bribe and diverting the supply elsewhere.

The BWSSB chairman promised to build an additional feeder line and replace the existing 8-inch pipelines with 12-inch pipelines. He also said that there was a proposal to replace the old, leaky pipelines on the Bore Bank Road.

Ramamurthy also assured the residents that the corroded underground pipelines would be changed.

The BWSSB plans to convert the slaughterhouse near Tannery Road into a ground-level reservoir after the abattoir shifts to Somanahalli, he said.

Suspended

Krishnamurty, a water meter reader, was suspended during inspection after it was found that he was not including the borewell charges in the water bill, causing a huge loss to the Board.

BWSSB checks soil biotechnology plant

BWSSB minister S Suresh Kumar and Board chairman P B Ramamurthy on Tuesday visited Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT) to check  soil biotechnology, an innovative sewage dispose method. Soil Biotechnology is an invention by a team of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay where the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation has set up a large-scale plant.

The technology has been adopted at the FRLHT institute which is the only such plant in Karnataka.