Sewage water stagnating near Haj Bhavan gate

Chandra Prabhu | NT

Bengaluru: Haj Bhavan has a stain to deal with - sewage water stagnating on Thanisandra Main road just outside its gate. In a post on X (previously Twitter), it was alleged that despite no rain, water has been stagnating for two weeks.

However, when News Trail spoke to Pasha,who is in-charge of the building, it was learnt that this issue has persisted for four years.

"I receive calls everyday from them complaining about this," he said, adding that the authorities face financial constraints to lay new pipes.

Pasha also alleged that the stagnating water is caused due to a pipe breakage and the water flowing to the storm water drain (Rajakaluve).

While the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) ascertained the cause of water stagnation, News Trail also spoke with Chandan, the engineer for these pipelines.

"With the white topping of these roads, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) have caused damage to these sanitary pipes, causing the manhole to spew sewage water here," he alleged.

While this was the reason the BWSSB had cited, the BBMP had clarified that white topping had nothing to do with this issue.

Devaraj, the engineer who’s involved in the same here, had alleged that the water stagnation is due to the blockage of sewage behind Haj Bhavan.

"It has been a long standing issue. We held talks with a private owner to lay sewage pipes, but it failed,” he claimed.

However, Goutham who owns a building behind Haj Bhavan revealed no such approaches were made, and clarified that sanitary lines on private property are totally uncalled for.

Instead he claims that the Storm Water Drain is poorly maintained.“It gets overflowed, due to the sewage water being mixed into it,” he said.

This blame game between the authorities exposes the lack of cohesiveness and residents in the area take the brunt. Manoj, who recently moved into this area, was able to recall multiple instances “In my two month long stay, I have seen this road stagnate many times,” he added.