Metro work stinks at Navrang

Metro work stinks at Navrang
Sewage water flows at Navrang Circle as BMRCL workers damage a pipe. This water causes 2,000 phones to go dead
Deepthi.MR @timesgroup.com


Namma Metro work is giving nightmares to residents at Navrang Circle. It has reportedly caused sewage water to flow on Dr Rajkumar Road. This dirty water has not only caused a stench but destroyed wiring of phone lines in the area. As a result, nearly 2,000 phone lines went dead on Mahakavi Kuvempu Road and Modi Hospital Road in Rajajinagar.
STINKY WORK
Residents allege that sewage water began flowing on the road after workers of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) hit a wrong pipe while digging on Mahakavi Kuvempu Road.
Vasudevan, a shop owner on Dr Rajkumar Road, said, “A lot of dirty water is flowing for the last two weeks. The area is smelling of sewage.” Sewage water from Navrang Circle is flowing to low-lying areas like Prakashnagar and Gayatripuram.
According to a Bharath Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) official, sewage water leaked into phone wiring and affected phones in the area. “Over 2,000 phone lines went dead for a week. It will take us about three to four days to fix them all,” he said. By Monday, BSNL had managed to repair some of these phone lines.
Karnunalkar, another resident of the area, said, “Metro work has turned this area, a shady canopy of trees, into a nightmare. There is stench all around and phones have gone dead. This is chaos.”
Attempts by residents to contact BMRCL officials have failed. M S Murthy, who owns a cyber cafe near Navrang, said, “Work here has been contracted to Punj Lloyd and L&T. But officials are very secretive and never answer our questions properly. We cannot even enter the working area and question them as they have erected barricades.”
BMRCL officials deny any wrongdoing on their part. BMRCL chief engineer P N Nayak said, “We have not hit any pipeline. The sewage water may be from some other sewer line. Work is going on normally and there are no damages found in the pipeline.”