HSR sector 7: caught between GAIL and BBMP

GAIL has dug the roads in HSR layout in Bengaluru to lay pipelines. But the repair is taking time, due to various reasons. Ultimately citizens are paying for the mess.

GAIL pipeline work 'maroons' residents in HSR Sector 7

The Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), a public sector major, via its wholly owned subsidiary, GAIL Gas, has secured BBMP permission to lay liquified natural gas (LNG) ‘last mile’ pipelines for retail consumers in some parts of Bengaluru including HSR Layout (other areas being Jalahalli, etc).  

The HSR pipeline network is one of the tail ends of the 1386 kilometer long Dabhol-Bangalore LNG pipeline, work on which was inaugurated by the former prime minister Manmohan Singh in December 2013 and was commissioned in February 2015.

Digging trenches for the first part of the work has commenced in the HSR Layout via a Delhi-based contractor appointed by project consultants Mecon Limited, again a PSU under the Ministry of Steel.

The work in progress, in HSR Layout, suggests that the contractors are ill-equipped to do an efficient job of the trench digging and are facing significant labour challenges. Trenches dug on 21st and 22nd November right in front of residential houses in Sector 7 have been left shoddily unfilled for over a week.

Residents have been unable to move easily in and out of their houses, and those with vehicles, or the aged/physically challenged, have had an even harder time.

Repeated follow-ups and personal meetings with the projects supervisor and their contractors have resulted in absolutely no action over several days. We have also learned from other sources that the BBMP and elected representatives ‘have demanded Rs. 18 lakh as a payout’ to provide permissions. Needless to say – such pay outs completely render any possibility of recourse to the local authorities for follow ups, inspection, quality monitoring or even for due completion of work, meaningless.

As in all cases of corruption, and yet again, the city’s upkeep and the ordinary citizen’s welfare has been sold out by local officials and politicians to the highest bidder. 

Residents will be contacting everyone in this ‘supply chain’ including GAIL gas and Mecon to get this set right – but who is to bell the proverbial cat of the local authorities who seem to be the least accountable and most brazen?

Related Articles

Piped water supply contaminated, kids fall sick in apartment
Gas connections: further pitfalls for consumers
Getting a new cooking gas connection
Manufacturing corruption: the gas story

Comments:

  1. Vijay Kundaji says:

    I’d like to post an update on this.

    After two and a half months and an sustainable level of follow up with GAIL, Mecon and their contractors (Delhi based and the local party contracted for the restoration) a modicum of what they consider “restoration” was completed on a very short stretch – on 10th Main of HSR layout, Sector 7, yesterday. The work is shoddy and band-aid-like suggesting money has been pocketed in the bargain by the local contractor and the other well known traps of public funds. Needless to say the rest of the stretches of road, are partially done or left completely undone.

    As I understand it, the local contractor doing the restoration is a ‘well connected’ party and most organizations such as the Delhi contracting house are obligated to work with people like this for anything involving a BBMP interface.

  2. Vijay Kundaji says:

    Correcting a small, but important (!) typo in the first line of the comment above.
    After two and a half months and an “unsustainable” level of follow up with GAIL …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Similar Story

Chennai Councillor Talk: Rathika aims to resolve long-standing patta issues in Ward 174

Flooding and sewage overflow are major problems in Chennai's Ward 174. Here is how Councillor Rathika is addressing them.

Like many first-time councillors in Chennai, Ward 174 Councillor M Rathika entered grassroots politics because of the reservation for women in urban local body elections. Ward 174 was one of the wards reserved for women (general) in the 2022 local body polls. Coming from a family with a political background, she had been working on the ground with her brother for years. When the elections were announced, she was given a seat to contest and won by around 5,000 votes. Ward 174 Name of Councillor: M Rathika Party: DMK Age: 44 Educational Qualification: Undergraduate Contact: 9445467174 / 9566165526 Ward 174…

Similar Story

City Buzz: Pollution chokes Delhi, north | Report lauds free bus rides for women

Other news: Successful reduction in road crash fatalities in Punjab, flood mitigation in Chennai and alarming annual rise in cybercrimes.

Delhi air 'severe plus'; North India reels under air pollution Delhi's air quality has been going from bad to worse since Diwali, and the air quality index plummeted to hit 'severe plus' category, at 457 on the evening of November 17th. At 8 am on Monday, November 18th, data from the Central Pollution Control Board pointed to a daily average AQI of 484. After days of hovering at severe levels (AQI of 400-450) it crossed the threshold, prompting the Commission for Air Quality Management to invoke implementation of Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan, or GRAP, across the National…