BENGALURU: Whenever it rains, sewage enters at least a dozen houses at Ramakrishna Nagar and Elliyas Nagar (Yelachenahalli ward) in South Bengaluru.
The alleged negligence on the part of Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is the reason for this.
Repeated complaints to BWSSB from residents and social activists have gone in vain. The reason for this problem is the BWSSB has not completed the sewage link line work connecting Gangadhar Nagar and Yelachenahalli. Because of this, sewage enters the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) stormwater drain which is only 1.5 metres wide. The BWSSB has to lay 40 metres of sewage pipeline to complete the link line.
The incomplete sewage line and the line not being extended further to connect a sub-sewage line at Yelachenahalli allows sewage to flow into the stormwater drain. When it rains, sewage from the SWD overflows and runs down, flooding homes that are in low-lying areas.
BBMP Executive Engineer (SWD) Sri Lakshmi confirmed sewage entering the 1.5-metre drain near Gangadhar Nagar.
“As we have taken up work on the 40-foot road at Fayazabad, the left side of the road is for the BWSSB to lay the sewage line. Our stormwater drain network is part of CM’s Nagarothana grant of Rs 3 crore earmarked in 2022. If the stormwater drain network is free from sewage, the flooding of homes can be avoided,” she said.
BWSSB engineer: Sewage line laid below SWD
BWSSB officials too admitted to leaving the work incomplete, but with excuses. Divya PS, Executive Engineer (Wastewater Management), BWSSB, said the inspection of work on the sewage link line executed by a new contractor is yet to be done. Because of this, linking of the sewage network from Gangadhar Nagar to Yelachenahalli has not been completed.
“The areas here are very narrow and there are space constraints. We have taken the sewage line below the stormwater drain. The sewage network linking will be done at the earliest. Once linking of sewage pipelines between Gangadhar Nagar and Yelachenahalli is completed, there will be no sewage flooding,” she said.
Social activist Gulab Pasha said though he had complained several times about the incomplete work with the BWSSB, nothing has been done so far.
He said whenever he approached the BWSSB officials, they blamed the contractor for the incomplete work. They accused him of not providing documents related to the work undertaken by him. “The Rs 50-lakh project has been approved. We urge the authorities to complete the work at the earliest,” Pasha said.