Sewage flows on this road

Sewage flows on this road
By S Lalitha, DH News Service, Bangalore:
House-owner B N Reddy is often out at nights, standing at a corner on the National Highway-7 in Yelahanka, to escort his women tenants employed in BPOs, to their houses. For, drivers of the company cabs refuse to enter the Vinayaka Nagar Road of Venkatala village.


Even mothers are seen waiting for the kids at the entrance of this road, as school vans also don’t enter this potholed roads. Many two-wheeler riders are forced to push their vehicle along this road.

Commuting on this 500-m stretch to connect to the highway everyday has been a nightmare for nearly 3,000 people residing in the village. The road was dug eight months ago to lay pipeline underneath the highway to divert the sewage discharged by the Border Security Force Office, a garment factory and a hotel, said Reddy, Sergeant at Yelahanka Air Force. Just three months ago the residents had coughed up Rs 10,000 to repair the road. However the sewage continued to flood the road and later heavy rains also damaged the road, Reddy added.

Corporal Surya Prakash is worried about the boils and skin allergies caused due to the chemical waste discharged from the factory. “Children are worst affected when they wade through this slush,” he pointed out.

BWSSB’s duty

BBMP Chief Engineer (Byatarayanapaura Zone) Nagaraju and also a top National Highway Authority official said it was BWSSB’s responsibility to address the issue. Another top official said, it was not the issue of any new pipeline but rather old culverts crossing from the opposite side to this low-lying area.
Rajashekar, Assistant Engineer, BWSSB, Yelahanka, said that the department had not laid any pipeline in that area. “We have called for tenders for Underground Drainage (UGD) works in all the former CMC areas. The last date for tenders is November 17,” he said.