BENGALURU: BESCOM staff accidentally damaged the underground Cauvery water pipeline while trying to repair an underground electric cable after a transformer caught fire at 8 am on Saturday at BDA Layout, Hulimavu.
The valve of the pipeline was turned off to stop the wastage of water and flooding in the area. The cable was fixed and power was restored by around 11.30 am. The entire locality faced a power cut, while 20 households had no water supply, and residents of Axis Antara Apartments, Akshayanagar. Bescom officials said an earthmover digging to access the power line broke the Cauvery pipeline that was under it.
A BWSSB official said it is a 4-inch Cauvery pipeline that supplies water to the locality twice a week. The wall of the dug-up area was restored at 10 pm and the pipeline was patched around midnight. After repairs, the water supply to the households resumed.
Residents of the locality had setbacks as overhead water tanks could not be filled due to power cut, drained UPS backups led to lack of lighting after dark, and there was no supply of water due to the pipe burst.