MCC spends huge amount to cover up 'mistakes'

Mangalore, July 28: The Mangalore City Corporation (MCC), which spent crores of rupees for concreting major roads in the city is now spending huge amount to cover up the mistakes of non shifting of the utilities by them during the concreting work.''

The corporation had concretised 17 roads in the city using the Chief Minister's Special Grant of Rs 100 crore in the first phase. However, utility lines including water supply pipelines, Under Ground Drainage, telephone and electricity cables were not shifted before the roads were concreted.

As a result, the Corporation is finding it difficult to plug any leakage in the water supply pipeline or Under Ground Drainage without cutting open the concrete road.
The corporation has already cut open the newly laid concrete roads at more than 42 places in the city for plugging the leakage of water supply or for repairing the cables and so on.

MCC Commissioner Dr K N Vijayaprakash said “as the MCC had failed to shift the utilities before laying the concrete road, the cutting open the already laid concrete road is inevitable with any leakage. The Mangalore City Corporation called for the tender for concreting the road without shifting the utilities two years ago.

As a result any problem in the leakage, we are forced to go for cutting open the concrete road. However, in the second phase of works to be undertaken under Chief Minister's special grant of Rs 100 crore, pipelines will be shifted before going for concretisation of the roads.”

At few places, the dug up concrete roads were not reconcretised. Instead, it was asphalted.

Some of the concrete roads which are pending for maintenance works are: in front of Kulai Vishnumurthy temple, Jeppu Kottadi road, near Baroda bank in Chilimbi, near Suprabhath building in Kapikad sixth cross, Mannagudda junction, near Syndicate Bank at Kottara, Kankanady hospital road, Bendorewell road, in front of Unity hospital and so on.

The already dug roads are Kadri Kambala-Kodialguthu road, Kankanady-Pumpwell road, Bejai Kapikad road, in front of Colaco hospital, in front of Pearl beauty parlour in Bejai-Kapikad, in front of Smile dental clinic in Bejai- Kapikad, in front of Roshni Nilaya, near Kankanady restaurant, Yeyyadi road, in front of Urwa Store police station, near Sapthagiri hotel in Kavoor and so on.

Solution

The Commissioner says the only solution to avoid cutting open the concrete road is 24X7 water supply wherein there would be evaluation and study of netwroking on water supply, which will help to identify the exact position where the leakage has taken place.

He said “now without knowing the place of leakage, the roads are cut open to plug the leakage. In fact, a sum of Rs 36 crore has been earmarked for inter connection of water supply. We have age old pipelines which are rusted and when the pressure of the water supply increases, the pipeline gets damaged, creating problems. Now we have one dimension of pipeline for the mainline and another dimension for the inter connection. As a result, the pipes get burst with the increase in the pressure of water supply. For the last one year, we have full fledged water supply from Thumbay vented dam. Earlier, we were getting 80 MLD water. With the completion of KUDCEMP works, the quantity of water drawn is 160 MLD. Many of the old pipes are unable to withstand the pressure and gets ruptured,” he said.

With the inter connection networking of the water supply, the problem on cutting open the concrete road will be solved to some extent.

At the same time, in the next phase of concreting of road, utilities will be shifted before laying the roads, added the Commissioner.