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Human entry into manholes will be banned, says BWSSB

This followed a petition filed by the Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties, which was looking into the working condition of pourakarmikas (civic staff engaged in sweeping and cleaning).

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Human entry into manholes and sewage lines will be banned and machines will soon do that job. This was the promise given to the high court by the chairman of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) on Wednesday.

This followed a petition filed by the Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties, which was looking into the working condition of pourakarmikas (civic staff engaged in sweeping and cleaning).

The petitioners contended that there should be a high-level committee to look into the working condition of these workers.

Their counsel had filed a memo, which said that in front of a house at Sampangiramanagar, four workers were found engaged in cleaning a manhole manually. The four entered the manhole with a bucket. The others, who stood on the ground, kept pulling the bucket containing waste using a rope.

The division bench headed by Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen came down heavily on the BWSSB. “Manual scavenging should be prohibited. We are interested to see that you eradicate manual scavenging— whether you do it manually or with machines or whichever way you want,” he said.

The chief justice wondered why an FIR was not filed at Sampangiramanagar police station after the four workers were found engaged in manual scavenging. “We have given a lot of time to the BWSSB. But they have not completed their work. Let the chairman go. If he does not work, then somebody else can do it,” he said.

Gaurav Gupta, BWSSB chairman, who was present in the high court, said: “We are purchasing machines. It is in progress. They will effectively implement the prohibition of manual entry into the man holes and sewage lines by securing all machines.”

The bench then observed: “We are not satisfied with this position as manual scavenging continues. It also appears that alternative methods have not been thought of. The case has been adjourned to July 17”.

HC gives BDA 3 days to give details on all layouts
The high court gave a three-day deadline to the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to furnish details on all layouts in Bangalore city and the related allotments done till date. A batch of petitions challenging the acquisition of land towards the formation of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout came up for hearing on Wednesday. They were filed by land owners, mainly farmers, who contended that the BDA had not considered their objections over the acquisition. They also alleged that they were not given the notice in advance. Justice Abdul Nazeer, in the previous hearing, had asked the state government to furnish details on how many pieces of land are actually vacant in various layouts irrespective of the sites being acquired for layout formation on July 4.

‘Ward ate up gymnastic hall’
The fate of a gymnastic hall is hanging in balance after the construction of a ward office in Jayanagar, the high court heard on Wednesday. Sports Promotion Association, in its petition, alleged that the ward office encroached upon Kitturu Rani Chennamma Sports Complex. The division bench headed by Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen ordered issue of notices to the principal secretary, youth services and sports department, BBMP commissioner and others.

The petitioners alleged that though the hall was sanctioned by the BBMP in 2009, the plan was diverted with a portion of the sanctioned space used for the construction of a BBP ward office. “The presence of a ward office within the sanctioned gymnasium has virtually made it difficult to carry out proper training. The hall has been considerably reduced, making it difficult even to install gymnastic equipment and carry out practice, they said.

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