Another sinkhole, third in 15 days; BWSSB to blame

BENGALURU: Another sinkhole appeared on the busy Maruthi Nagar Main Road in Ittamadu on Friday morning, but was highlighted only on Sunday morning when it was being attended to. This is the third such hole in the last 15 days and agencies have blamed the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) for them.

The third sinkhole appeared just two days after BWSSB filled another such hole on Mahalakshmi Layout Main Road. The previous one occurred due to a leak in the water pipeline, making the soil loose. The sinkhole on the Ittamadu Main Road which is 2 ft deep appeared around 11 am on Friday. Residents and motorists immediately placed stones and bricks, barricading the area. They later informed BWSSB and traffic police officials.

“We rushed to the spot and suspected it to be due to a water pipe leak. We checked on Saturday morning as water is supplied to the surrounding areas on Friday night checking. We detected damage to the sewage line,” said BWSSB Assistant Executive Engineer Nandini KR.

She said that recently, the roads were dug up to connect houses with the main sewage line. During the process, some vibration or damage would have taken place, it is suspected. “We changed both the 100 mm diameter house connection lines and 225 mm diameter main line at this junction. The reason for the sinkhole could also be due to a storm water drain running along the BWSSB pipeline and also due to ongoing Bangalore Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (Bescom) cable works. The pipe may have been damaged a while ago and because of the seepage, the soil could have become weak and resulted in the road sinking,” she said.

“The underground infrastructure is neglected. There is absolutely no coordination between the civic agencies like BWSSB and Bescom to ensure better road infrastructure. Somebody should be held responsible for three sinkholes in the last 15 days. To make things better and to shame the civic bodies, we should mark the site and make a ‘hall of shame’ board and attribute the damage to the concerned agency,” said Ashwin Mahesh, an urban expert.