Overflowing manholes: BWSSB says citizens to be blamed

With the heavy rain lashing the city on Wednesday night, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is facing a huge task of draining out the overflowing manholes.

On Thursday, the BWSSB jetting machines were briskly working to fix the overflowing manholes in the city.

When DH asked the reason for the mess that happens during the rainy season, BWSSB officials said it was mainly due to lack of knowledge among people about managing water.

Many have unscientifically connected the rainwater pipe to the sewage water outlet, due to which manholes overflow even for a small rain, they said.

“Most of the establishments in our city have unscientifically connected the rainwater pipes to the sewage water outlet. It’s illegal to connect the rainwater pipes to the sewage outlet. The precious rainwater is meant to be harvested, or it should be directed to other channels like stormwater drains. Our officials at various division levels are handling these issues and serving notices to them,” BWSSB engineer in chief Kemparammaiah told DH.

This will not only damage manholes but is also a serious concern, where the public should look into it, the engineer added.

“There are only two reasons for a manhole to overflow — blockage and heavy rain. Outlets from three are four establishments will be connected to one manhole. So when the manhole is overflowing during rain, it is due to an unscientific plan by the establishments,” Kemparamaiah added.