Oh, sorry! We chopped it off by mistake

BANGALORE: Once in a while, the authorities do something that pleasantly surprise the people living in the city. But one does not the expect ‘electrifying’ repercussions that it tends to bring along with it. The story often been told is repeated amid the glamour and gusto that the New BEL Road brings along with it.When the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) decided to lay sanitary pipes throughout the expanse of the road, residents and shop-owners were quite content that the authorities had not turned a blind eye to all their woes. And soon the barricades were brought in. The roads looked like they had just seen an earthquake. Huge heaps of mud lay everywhere, and along with it the long, tunnel-like pipes. This was an inconvenience that the people accepted            with a pinch of salt. A shopkeeper, Ahmed, said, “With colossal mounds of mud piled right in front of the shop, how does one receive customers? But we accepted it anyway, believing that all’s well  that ends well.”To the BWSSB’s credit, the work had been approached in a methodical way without causing  much hassles for anyone.But standing true to the words, ‘nothing ever lasts long,’ workers damaged the main electric line accidentally. This led to no power in the area for about four hours. Bangalore Electric Supply Company (BESCOM) officials were seen at the scene immediately demanding that work be halted as a total blackout in one of the most progressive localities in the North zone didn’t    really help matters.Rashmi, a resident, remarked, “We were quite happy with the fact that the BWSSB were laying pipes. But I have exams to study for in the upcoming days, and there is no power in the house, which means no Internet. So my parents cannot hold me responsible in case I do not fare well in my exams,” she added   with a wink. Many others in the area added the same left them unable to cook    or watch television. Another major concern with the work was the careless discarding of pipes throughout the road. Despite the fact that a few of these areas have not even begun to see work, the pipes have been disposed off without a care in the world. Some block pavements and the others, entry to shops. But officials say that there is not much one can do until work is completed.A BESCOM official present on the scene, on the condition of anonymity, said, “If they would just ask us for help, we would be glad to help as we are well-versed with all the electric connections of the locality. But now, we have to work hard on repairing everything right from scratch with no fault of ours.”The BWSSB engineer of the area, Satish Reddy, said, “The disruption in power was a minor incident. The work will be completed in another four days.”