A locality sans civic facilities

BANGALORE: Located on the outskirts of the city, Vignananagar is still a developing area and therefore, even the population is slowly increasing. However, the residents of Vignananagar are badly affected by erratic and inadequate water supply. Many residents in the area complain that they get water supply only for a few hours or sometimes no water for the entire day.  Although, aware of the prevailing problems, the BBMP is helpless as they do not have a master plan of the existing water and sanitary network in Vignananagar.The BWSSB officials are aware of these issues and the need for replacement of the worn out pipes. Thus, the only thing they do  is repairing the damaged pipes. The irony is  if a locality with less population demands water, then the BBMP supplies more water than required and vice versa.According to few residents, the problem is at the BWSSB end as there is no adequate storage of water in their reservoir. Geographically, the area lacks ground water but in certain places, water is available. Therefore,the residents depend on water tankers and a few who have the borewell connection, even that has dried up, over the years. So far, this area has no sanitation lines. Sivaprasad, a resident living in the area for more than 20 years has paid money for a water connection with K R Puram Municipal body but still awating it. Taking advantage of the situation, some agencies have hiked up their charges and are selling water at a high cost to residents. Voicing a similar opinion, another resident says that the water rates  `350 earlier has gone upto 700 per tanker within a few months.Meanwhile, MLA Nandish Reddy has assured of addressing the problem.                                                                             According to local Corporator, Geetha Vivekananda, the area has developed drastically over the years and such issues will be looked into. Another issue faced by the residents is lack of a proper drainage system.The residents have the pit system. They are suffering from various ailments due to the prevailing unhygeinic conditions. The resulting sewage and overflowing manholes are the biggest worries of the citizens. Several residents who have lodged their complaints with the local authorities, say some of the pipeline work which have been taken up in the area recently has not been connected due to political reasons.