Beware if any BWSSB contractors come to you asking for a lot of money towards relaying a pipeline or fixing the pipeline work in your lane. They are out to make extra money at your expense. One resident Geetha VM exposed this nexus in HSR Layout today when workers knocked on her door demanding money for laying the pipeline in front of her house on 15th Main Road in Sector 4.
“At first they demanded Rs 11,000 and said if I don’t pay them, they will just close the pipeline and later I might have to pay Rs 22,000 to reconnect it to the sewerage line,” said Geetha. “When I asked the reason for it, they said it’s meant for labour charges and cost of materials.”
Her two neighbours had already paid Rs 7,000 and Rs 8,000, and the workers claimed that many more residents had also paid for it. “When I asked them to show the order where the residents were supposed to pay, they showed me a police permission order for road digging, which had nothing to do with the payment they were asking.”
When she demanded an invoice, the workers got their contractor on the line, but he maintained that they were taking money for materials without giving any invoice as it was a common practice. When Geetha refused to budge from her stand, the contractor not only refunded the money they had taken from the two houses but also ensured they carried on the work without asking Geetha for any money either.
One beneficiary who got the money back was Sharmila who was threatened with disconnection if she did not pay up: “Two days ago, before starting the work, the boys came to me and said if I don’t get the pipe or pay for the materials and labour cost, they will disconnect the connection and I will not be able to use my bathroom. When they said that everyone was paying for this, I thought I should too and paid them Rs 7,000. Later, one of the workers gave me a written chit that said Rs 2,000 for the pipe and orally said the rest of the money I paid was towards labour charges.” The workers also claimed to them that other houses paid Rs 11,000 and even Rs 16,000 each.
When we spoke to BWSSB officials, they said that the materials cost is only borne by the resident if the particular house’s domestic pipe needs to be fixed to the main pipeline, like it is happening in this case. However, this usually costs around Rs 1,000 for the pipe and labour charges. However, no contractor can threaten or disconnect the sewage connection to any house that refuses to pay even these charges, because if they do, they have to come back and restore the connection because they are contracted to do that work, according to BWSSB sources. “We urge the residents not to bow down before such blackmailing tactics,” said one source. If they disconnect, which the contractor legally cannot, just complain to the BWSSB helpline (1916, 08022238888) or email (chairman@bwssb.org), and the agency will restore the connection. And if you happen to be a resident of 4th Sector, HSR Layout, contact the following BWSSB engineers for redressal: Ramesh (9482516999) or Dinakar (9845444109).
Clearly, this is a scam being carried out by the contractors. We urge the BWSSB chairman to take cognizance of the matter and issue public notices and cautionary advice to the BWSSB engineers and contractors to ensure that such practices do not happen anywhere in Bangalore. We have come across such cases in other parts of the city too, and this problem dates back to 2013. Said Usha J: “This happened to me two years ago for my property in HRBR Layout, and I had to pay immediately to fix the problem. Looks like this is a Bangalore wide scam.”
In addition, the BWSSB sanitary pipeline WWM project work is going on in a scattered manner across HSR Layout and surrounding areas. Huge pipelines are clogging the footpaths in several areas but work is progressing at a snail’s pace. When asked, the BWSSB officials have no answers about how sewage is entering stormwater drains in HSR Layout. Why can’t they fine the houses letting sewage into the drains? One civic agency insider says that all the details are with the BWSSB. “They know which houses have taken a sanitary connection by paying the charges and which houses have illegally connected their sewerage line to the stormwater drain,” he said. “All they have to do is identify such illegal connections and legitimise them with penalty and sewage will vanish from the drains.”
