BENGALURU: Candidates from various parties contesting the upcoming BBMP polls are showing a sudden interest in tackling long-standing water problems in their wards.
As a result, BWSSB engineers of various levels have received a flurry of calls during the last fortnight.
“The main complaints received by engineers right from the junior engineer to the engineer-in-chief are about defunct or malfunctioning borewells,” a BWSSB source said.
A few candidates also call to complain about insufficient water supply in a particular area, he added.
Most of the complaints are from Bommanahalli, Byatarayanapura, Dasarahalli, Krishnarajapuram, Mahadevapura, Rajarajeshwaringar, Yelahanka (City Municipal Council areas) and Kengeri (Town Municipal Council), which were brought together under the umbrella of the BBMP. There is water scarcity in many of these areas.
“Some candidates call up and authoritatively say they are contesting on behalf of a particular party and demand that the borewells in a particular ward be rectified,” the source said.
Only a request
Others do not try to use their political clout. “They just give their name and make a request as if they are a resident of the area. We do know due to the publicity in the media that they are contesting on behalf of a particular party,” he added.
When pressed for names of parties, the source said it would be unfair to name any single party as candidates of all parties make the calls.
Asked about the number of calls received a day during the last two weeks, he said it was not possible to give a specific figure as calls were made to mobile numbers of engineers all over the City and such records were not maintained. “But engineers, whose numbers are listed online, are repeatedly complaining about the number of calls they have been getting of late,” he said.
On the steps being taken in connection with the calls, the source said the calls were being given the same priority as a call from a member of the public. “We try to redress the problems wherever possible,” he said.
However, when a caller demands an increase in water supply for a particular area, it cannot be fulfilled. “We provide 1,400 million litres of water per day to the City and can pump only a fixed quantum of water,” he said.