The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewage Board (BWSSB) will soon be handing over around 700 km of roads, which were dug up for laying Cauvery water supply pipelines, to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for restoration.
Speaking to The Hindu, Tushar Girinath, Chairman of BWSSB, said, “We have already released around 650 km of roads across five zones for restoration work. We have also deposited ₹100 crore with the BBMP towards restoration of dug-up roads.”
The ambitious project of laying Cauvery water supply pipelines in 110 villages in Mahadevapura, Yelahanka, Bommanahalli, Dasarahalli and Rajarajeshwarinagar zones was expected to be completed by May 2019. However, laying of pipes will take another 10 months and underground drainage work in these areas would be completed by 2022, a senior official of BWSSB said.
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Chairing a public interaction at Kudlu, which was also attended by BBMP officials, Mr. Girinath said BWSSB engineers would visit the stretches where works have been completed to inspect and monitor the process of getting pipeline connections to houses and other establishments. The engineers, along with other officials of the BWSSB, will also be given the responsibility of keeping middlemen out and preventing overpricing of services by technicians, such as plumbers.
Plumbers to be empanelled
The BWSSB will empanel a large number of plumbers in stretches where the work has been completed. “At many places, people are facing the problem of unavailability of plumbers to get the connections. Keeping this problem in mind, we will empanel plumbers to cater to the demand,” said Mr. Girinath.
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Around 85% of the work of laying pipelines for water has been completed. “The work got delayed due to the time restrictions by the traffic department. We are permitted to work for only seven hours. However, we will ensure that minimum inconvenience is caused to the public,” he said.