Residents near Cooke Town slam Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board over chaotic road-digging work

Bengaluru: Dug-up roads, a narrow railway underpass and rains have severely limited access to Cooke Town, especially Vivekananda Nagar and Jai Bharath Nagar areas behind Banaswadi railway station. Residents and commuters say driving through the east Bengaluru locality has become a nightmare due to poor coordination and planning by Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB).The board has been digging up roads to replace old water pipelines laid nearly five decades ago. After weeks of blocked roads, debris, dust and restricted movement, residents said they had to escalate the issue to higher officials.Following repeated complaints, BWSSB officials promised residents around two weeks ago that the mud and debris would be cleared. However, work was taken up only a week later, while rains continued to worsen conditions in the areas.Mohan Nair, a resident of Vivekananda Nagar, said roads across the layout were dug up simultaneously in a haphazard manner. “They started digging randomly without proper planning. Most entry and exit points to the area were blocked by debris. Even ambulances found it difficult to reach homes of sick residents over the past few weeks,” he said.Nair said residents learnt BWSSB had approval to cut only two roads, but several stretches across the locality were dug up. “Bescom cables, sewage pipes and other utilities were damaged,” he alleged.Another resident, Mohammed Umair, said the Bescom line connected to his house was damaged during road-cutting work. “A water supply line across the road was also affected, leading to leakage for nearly two weeks. There is no coordination between different teams and agencies. Meanwhile, roadside drain work has also been taken up after a long delay,” he said.A BWSSB engineer told TOI the road patchwork will begin in a day or two. “We will be laying wet mix asphalt. We are not taking up any further road-cutting before repairing these stretches,” he said, adding the project will be completed within the next two weeks.