Koramangala & HSR LaYout
What’s clogging up sewage pipes? K oramangala 1st block, 1st cross, often has sewage water overflowing on the roads. The overflow leaves an unbearable stench. This problem has been persisting for over four months now.
Residents believe that garbage dumped inside the sewage drains by the restaurants around and the nearby Sulabh public toilet, is causing it to overflow. BWSSB says the pipeline carrying the sewage is too narrow to carry the load and the problem is being examined. Dr. Malini Jayasurya, a resident, says, “we have complained several times to BWSSB. They come, charge money, clean up and go. The next day, situation is the same.” She added that she has lost count of the number of complaints and payments done to the BWSSB but it has not been resolved yet. The complaints to the restaurant managers have also not yielded any results. Rajesh Shetty, Manager, Udupi Upahar says, “we have complained to
Workers cleaning the sewage overflow. Pic: Anisha Nair
the BWSSB and they said the pipeline carrying the sewage is damaged. They will repair it soon.” He however denies dumping waste into the sewage pipes. “We have filters fitted in the sink. No garbage chunk can pass through that,” he says.
says, “we are inspecting the actual cause of the overflow of sewage lines there. Once we get the reason, we will get the work sanctioned by the higher authorities and get it started. In the meantime, we are getting it cleaned regularly.”
Ashok Singh, worker at Sulabh Toilet says, “whenever the pipeline overflows, I call up the BWSSB and they come and clean up. They don’t clean for free. I pay them Rs. 1500.”
When Citizen Matters asked him about workers demanding money to do the clean up, he denied it and insisted that residents should not pay.
Anisha Nair
Venkat Raju, Chief Engineer, BWSSB,
BDA pulls up KB Halli underpass contractor
B
DA has issued notice to the contractor building the Kadubeesanahalli underpass on the Outer Ring Road (ORR). The completed section of the underpass (south going) flooded due to overnight rains on Tuesday May 1st, throwing Wednesday morning’s commute into a gridlock. It caused a lot of chaos and trouble to the commuters. R K Misra, ABIDe member and urban reforms campaigner posted on Facebook about the gridlock deploring the state of affairs. “Recently opened underpass BDA’s Outer Ring Road near Marthahalli. Design flaw or poor upkeep?”, he asked. Misra also said in his post that he had asked BDA to investigate. The Outer Ring Road Companies Association was active in advising commuters to use the HAL Airport Road and Inner Ring Road to reach Koramangala instead of the ORR. Speaking to Citizen Matters, BDA Assistant Executive Engineer B Nagendra said that the fault was the contractor’s. “The problem was due to the stormwater drainage that was not connected to any point. The 6 CITIZEN MATTERS 05-18 May 2012 Vol-4 Issue-07
The flooded Kadubeesanahalli Underpass on May 2 early morning. This picture, by an unnamed photographer, was received through email and Facebook.
process is on to connect this with a pipe into the lowest point - Doddanekundi”, says Nagendra. He further added BDA has sent notice and assured that the problem will be solved. The debacle of May 2nd turned out to be a warning for ORR commuters, as this was merely the first rain of the season.
Newsdesk