Bengaluru: A day after a 14-year-old boy was found dead inside an open BWSSB pipeline sump near Thathaguni in south Bengaluru, his parents filed a criminal complaint against officials of the water authority, accusing them of negligence.The deceased — R Preetam, a resident of Thathaguni — went missing last Wednesday. His father, Rajaneekanth, a housekeeping staffer, lodged a missing person complaint with Kaggalipura police the following day. Police, however, failed to trace the boy. On Sunday, his body was found in a deep sump along the Cauvery water corridor.
The parents alleged the sump was left uncovered for a long time, posing a serious risk to people living in the area.Police said preliminary findings point to negligence. “Prima facie, there was no cover on the pipeline sump. Signs on the surface clearly show that the cover was missing for a long period. The boy appears to have slipped into the sump through the opening,” a senior police officer said, adding that a case has been registered and investigation is ongoing.However, BWSSB claimed it was not a sump, but a covered wall chamber. A local BWSSB engineer said that after completion of the pipeline project in Oct 2024, the department carried out 2-3 inspection walks along the water corridor. He claimed the chamber was not accessed or altered since installation, as there were no issues in the pipeline and they never needed to open these chambers. According to him, the chamber is about 20 feet deep and built for a three-metre-diameter pipeline.“The chamber is normally sealed with a heavy concrete slab that cannot be removed by one person. During a routine line inspection conducted on Jan 10, the lid was found to be intact and closed,” the engineer said.The pipeline forms part of the 70km Cauvery water corridor running from T K Halli to Vajarahalli via Thathaguni, from where water is supplied to the city. BWSSB chairman Ram Prasath Manohar said there are over 60 such covered wall chambers along the pipeline. “We don’t know how the slab lid disappeared. Our team, along with police, is investigating the matter and appropriate action will be taken after the findings,” he said.
