BENGALURU: Traffic on Shanthinagar Double Road, Nanjappa Road, and surrounding areas in the Shanthinagar assembly will be hit for the next 30 to 40 days as Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has taken up replacing the old pipeline network worth around Rs 40 crores in the assembly.
According to Surendra Reddy, senior site engineer from a private agency that has bagged the contract to execute the replacement of old water lines, “120 kms of pipeline network is to be replaced in the assembly. The starting point of the assembly is Jogupalya in Ulsoor ward. The majority of the work near Ulsoor has already been completed. Last week feeder line at Nanjappa Road in the Shanthinagar ward of the Shanthinagar was taken up, and this will be completed in a week’s time. That apart, work on Lakshmi Road, Basappa Road will also be taken up. The checking of contamination and also testing will be done, and it may take 45 days to complete,” said Reddy.
As per BWSSB officials, the work is in full swing as the Bengaluru Central City Corporation is all set to start the whitetopping project on the Double Road stretch.”300mm diameter, 200mm diameter pipes installed will be the feeder main lines, and 100mm diameter pipes are being installed in sub-roads for house connection. Once the work is completed, the issue of contamination will be solved.
This assembly has old areas, and there is a seepage from sanitary lines, hence the contamination of drinking water. The BWSSB is now installing top-grade Ductile Iron (DI) pipes. Inside cement coating, outside rubber coating, and there are also steel wires for protection. At least for the next 25 years, there won’t be any contamination issue.
While work is going at a brisk pace, the residents of Basappa Road, Nanjappa Road, and surroundings say the entry and exit for over 10 streets has been impacted due to digging near Double Road. “Sewage mixed water in drinking-water taps remained from last year, and despite bringing it to officials and elected representatives, the issue remained unsolved. And now the work has begun.
Had the authorities acted last year, the residents would not have struggled to take their vehicle on a daily basis now. We hope, at least now, the BWSSB will fix the issue permanently,” said Renuka Prasad, from Shanthinagar Resident Welfare Association.