BANGALORE: A wet spell has been cast with the downpour of rain, yet water related issues reign in certain areas of the city. However, the good news is that the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewage Board (BWSSB) has taken up a pilot project to address the issue. It aims at eradicating water leakage issues in Bangalore South Zone by replacing the old pipelines.The glitch is the pace at which the work is progressing, as the order has not yet reached on ground. The BWSSB has passed an work order and now they are waiting for the approval from the Supreme Court. The order has to go to Japan International Cooperation Agency (JAICA) and the authorities will then sanction a loan of `180 crore for its execution. Once the orders are passed, a study for around six months will be undertaken to analyse the pipelines in the localities. The six constituencies that fall under this project are Basavanagudi, Jayanagar, Chikpet, Chamrajpet and BTM Layout. The main aim of the project is to reduce water leakages from the current 36 per cent to 16 per cent. Illegal connections will be first rooted out street wise and the leakages will then be identified. Agreeing that certain leakages are hard to identify, T Venkataraju, Chief Engineer of BWSSB, said, “Around 5,000 connectors will be looked into. The income and outcome of project will also be studied. Firstly, it will be inspected, which will take quite sometime.” He added, “But once it is recommended by the authorities, we will replace all PVC pipelines. We are starting off with the Bangalore South Zone. If it turns out to successful enough, we will look into other zones as well.” The pipelines in these areas are around 32-50 years old. The movement of vehicles, combined with heavy traffic have added pressure on the pipes, damaging them further. Yet another major burden on the pipelines are the holes being dug on the ground. Damage caused is generally not noticed, but even a small dent can lead to severe water supply issues in a locality.Kamala, a homemaker in Jayanagar, said, “We don’t have any problems pertaining with access to drinking water, but many a time water starts leaking from a pipe outside our house.” Vinod, a resident of BTM Layout, said, “Such issues of broken pipeline has always been present in India. I am not surprised at all. Around six months back, one of the leakages caused a lot of problem for the residents and pedestrians here. Water just started gushing out.”Water leakage is often noticed on Bannerghatta Road, between Dairy Circle and Jayadeva Flyover, Lakkasandra Main Road, Wilson Garden and Shanthi Nagar, among other places. However, countering the allegations of water leakage, Venkataraju said, “We have not received any complains recently regarding broken pipelines. But, if there are any leakages visible to the naked eye, we will attend to it immediately.”The preparation and implementation of the project will hopefully pave way to better pipelines and uninterrupted water supply soon in the city.
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