Non-functioning pumps is the reason being cited for releasing sewage to lake
The Bangalore Water Supply And Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has been searching for an elusive electrical mechanic for the last four years. That’s the excuse water board is giving for not repairing equipment of treatment plant or at least that is the reason being cited for releasing untreated sewage into Narasapura lake near Vidyaranyapura.
The effluent treatment plant in the area has been pumping filth into the 14.5 acre lake because the equipment is not working and the BWSSB is unable to find a mechanic to repair it. The plant receives almost two million liters of sewage from Vidyaranyapura, BEL Layout and HMT Layout to be treated before being released into the lake.
The lake’s upkeep is the responsibility of the BBMP, which recently took over the water body from the forest department. Officials allege that BWSSB is yet to respond to their complaints about the faulty equipment in the effluent treatment plant. BWSSB higher-ups seem clueless about the problem, but officials in the engineering department offered to attend to the problem.
Residents allege that plant officials release untreated water throughout the night while making a token gesture of treating the water in the morning. “Besides the non-functioning pumps, no one knows when was last time the filtering wells were desilted,” alleges Srikantha, one of the residents. From the lake, the sewage is released into a network of secondary storm water drains leading to Hebbal lake. To make matters worse, residents are still largely dependent on borewells for water supply and they fear that the sewage may be contaminating the ground water.
The plant has three 10HP motor pumps, but only one is functioning. The caretaker of the plant revealed that even the functioning motor develops problems at least once a week. These are old machines and break down very often. But we set them right as quickly as possible,” said official.
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