MCC buldozes encroachments along water pipeline

MCC buldozes encroachments along water pipeline

www.mangaloretoday.com

Mangaluru, March 6, 2016: After extending deadlines, the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) on March 5, Saturday started removing encroachments in the right of way along the main water supply line between Thumbe and Padil.

Three teams of MCC personnel, each headed by an Executive Engineer, were engaged in clearing the encroachments. Each team was given an earth mover to bring down structures that have come up over the water supply lines located off the Mangaluru-Bengaluru National Highway.

 

The personnel faced resistance while clearing a portion of a shop in Adyar. However, they went on with their work. First, they brought down a compound wall that had been constructed on the land opposite a masjid in Adyar.

The MCC dug a small trench outside a vehicle showroom in Adyar to caution the owners over their failure to construct two-way bridges connecting the showroom and the National Highway.

An MCC official said the action was based on the directions of MCC commissioner H.N. Gopalakrishna.  He said that they were planning to remove the debris dumped over the water supply line next. Then they would address the illegal tapping of water from the supply lines.

Concerns were expressed over dumping of debris and the encroachment in the right of way of the main water supply lines with a capacity of 18 million gallons a day between Thumbe and Padil. The calls became louder after these water supply lines were damaged in Kannur near Adyar in August 2015.  There was no water supply to the city for five days.

One supply line, laid more than two decades ago on a concrete pedestal. Another line was laid eight years ago under the Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environmental Management Project (KUDCEMP).

The KUDCEMP officials themselves have covered the new pipeline with soil at some places. The boundaries of the pipelines had been marked by erecting stones wherever required and they had been painted with yellow colour.