Bellandur, which is a major part of the IT corridor in Bengaluru, has its fair share of civic problems, apart from the infamous lake that has grabbed headlines across the world for the wrong reasons.
The latest nuisance faced by citizens is that a stretch of the service road outside Cloudnine Hospitals situated on the Outer Ring Road near Bellandur Central Mall gets filled with sewage from time to time. This not only means that pedestrians are forced to step on the stench filled sewage, but often vehicles on the busy stretch splash it over those walking on the pavements.
The outlet of this sewage is right at the pavement outside the hospital leading locals to suspect that Cloudnine is the culprit.
Anand, manager of the Chullah Chandigarh restaurant located in the next building, said while the problem has been recurring for months, it becomes a huge hassle after it rains.
“After it rains, the sewage leaks from a manhole at the edge of the pavement outside the hospital and flows all over the road towards the flyover. We have complained and asked them to fix the issue,” he said.
A pan shop owner in the stretch corroborated the occurrence.
“With the frequent rains nowadays, every other day the sewage flows out on the streets from the hospital and creates problems for us,” he added.
When contacted about the issue, a PR person from Cloudnine Hospitals did not deny the occurrence but claimed that there was no fault on their side but the problem was rather due to the BBMP’s storm water drain.
“We have called the BBMP office after there were complaints. They came last week and cleaned. But the problem recurred yesterday,” Yashoda from Cloudnine said.
According to the BWSSB website, a complaint of sanitary blockage was filed by the hospital on June 5, the status of which is still open.
Mukund, who lives nearby, alleged negligence by the hospital saying that it has been ignoring the problem irrespective of whether it was their fault or not.
"Even if we give them the benefit of doubt, when they are running a high-class maternity and childcare centre and they see sewage flowing right in front of their hospital, they should have sorted this issue out by now, as it is unhygienic sanitary conditions. The most logical thing for them to do would be to call the BBMP and BWSSB, and have the problem addressed. But instead they reacted only when the residents confronted them,” he said.
@CloudnineCare Cloud nine indeed for folks inside, but what about the sewage being released continuously & destruction of the road and filth being splashed on walkers? pic.twitter.com/8bgaRQJQrW
— BellandurJothege (@BellandurJothge) June 18, 2018
Ajit B, Company Secretary for Cloudnine Hospitals, denied any wrongdoing on their part and said that the hospital has fully functional STPs.
He said, “As mandated by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), we have created our own treatment plant in the building and the treated sewage is not let into the SWDs. Instead it is released to a BWSSB-approved vendor who later neutralises the treated sewage. We are maintaining all the log books and sending monthly reports to the KSPCB. KSPCB officials visit us frequently as well.”
The concerned KSPCB engineer Dinesh could not be reached for comment. Deputy Health Officer Dr Kalpana claimed that she hadn’t received any complaint about the issue and assured that she would look into the matter.