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Drowning under BBMP’s corruption, apathy

Hundreds of crores go down Bengaluru’s open drains every year

Bengaluru: Hundreds of crores go down Bengaluru’s open drains every year, and so do a few of our children, thanks to the BBMP’s way of running the city. 15-year-old Prakash has drowned and, inevitably, we’ll hear of more tragedies, if not this year, then the next. For no tragedy seems enough to change the way Bengaluru’s authorities function. After all, our government and politicians have come to believe, as the Mayor has shown by announcing compensation for the death of Prakash, everyone can be silenced with money, even families that are grieving for their dead sons and daughters. Meanwhile, the city’s open drains await their next victim.

Storm Water Drains or Death Traps?
The Storm Water Drain (SWD) network has turned into death traps for young and innocent children in the city. As many as eight kids have been washed away since 2009, including Geetha Lakshmi last year and Prakash and Adil on Wednesday. These incidents speak volumes about the city’s administration – or rather, the lack of it.

According to sources, as long as the chief minister and BBMP continues its callous and knee-jerk reactions to the city’s network of drains, flooding and tragedies continue to thrive in the city. Since 2009, hardly anything has been done to mitigate flooding in the city and desilting has become a money-making scheme for contractors and engineers as they indulge their unholy nexus.

The BBMP, through STUP consultants, has got a master plan prepared for remodeling of four valley drains — Hebbal, Koramangala, Challaghatta and Vrishabhavathi, to mitigate flooding and to rejuvenate the lakes at a cost of whopping Rs 5,000 crore. The question is, will the cash-strapped BBMP be able to plough in a whopping Rs 5,000 crore or will it let the citizens get marooned and flooded in the drains during the monsoon, ask sources.

The project was originally intended to be taken up under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). However, the JNNURM has been dumped and the BBMP may see a silver lining through the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT). This will be funded by the union government.

As the city of Bengaluru is a plateau, the rain water and sewage should be flushed out of the city. In the process, the newly added areas will be affected if the drain facility is not provided. In the present scenario, unless the problem is tackled comprehensively with a proper approach, flooding and disasters cannot be prevented.

As things stand, the capacity of drains have been reduced by 25 per cent due to the influx of sewage, said sources.

The master plan has been designed based on the physical survey captured by STUP team. It has co-related the drain network with rainfall and hydraulics qualities. The master plan aims to segregate sewerage water from the SWD and interlink lakes. This helps lakes retain clean and clear water and it also helps recharge the ground water table, added sources.

Cash down the drain In the last seven years, over Rs 500 crore spent on remodeling of drains seems to have gone ‘down the drain’ as the tragedies are continuing unabated and parts of the city are getting marooned with every passing year. It is a matter of grave concern if kids are getting washed away in open drains.

Reasons for flooding

  • Inadequate vent size railway culverts at 60 locations
  • Sewage flow in storm water drains
  • Sewer lines laid inside and across storm water drains
  • Water bodies not functioning as retention basins
  • Blockage of inlet/outlet location of water bodies
  • Services lines laid inside and across drains
  • Lack of access for routine maintenance of drains
  • Encroachment/Modification of original drain alignment
  • Dense vegetation growth
  • Indiscriminate dumping of debris and solid wastes into drains
  • Non-existence of service road on either side of drain for routine maintenance
  • Modification of original drain alignment during layout formation
  • Development of land in tank bed areas
  • Inappropriate design approach, construction methodology for structures and maintenance procedures adopted in newly formed layouts

BBMP has failed on all fronts, say experts

From hospitals to malls, there are many massive buildings that have silently come up on the strong foundation of storm water drains. Maintenance issues apart, encroachments are a major threat. And to ensure there are no more deaths, the erring officials should be made accountable, say experts

The city’ unprecedented growth has caught the BBMP officials off-guard, and in simple terms, the civic agency is just not able to cope with the way Bengaluru is growing. The network of storm water drains is massive and whatever BBMP is doing, it’s just a little to ensure that drains are safe. Due to the unplanned system of the drains, the BBMP is not in a position to set up gates or barricade the area around storm water drains. Hence, there is no way SWDs will become a ‘protected’ area. Also, the BBMP has repeatedly failed in maintaining the drains. Silt is not regularly removed. There are no sign boards near raja kaluves. The easy access to SWDs invites danger. The BBMP says there is no place for them to dump the silt and garbage removed from drains. The BBMP officials should be made accountable in order to prevent accidents and drain deaths.
Rajashekar.S, president, East Bengaluru Residents’ Welfare Association

“After closely working with the BBMP, we know that whatever the issue, the civic agency does not have the required funds to resolve it. Our garbage situation is in a mess, our roads are bad and now it’s the drains which have become death traps. And what’s stopping the officials from taking action is the entanglement within the system. The BBMP officials have all the data to prove that major drains have been encroached upon, but political compulsions stop them. They are also concerned about where to move people in case they are evicted from encroached areas. The major stumbling-block is the lack of an overseeing body to monitor the government agencies. The BDA, BWSSB, BBMP and others work as independent wings and do not give importance to comprehensive development of the city. If our infrastructure has to be improved, officials need a proper action plan and should be instructed to complete works within the credible deadline. Officials who fail to perform their duties must be penalized and an enforcing body should be constituted to monitor the works of all government agencies.
Shonali.C, Citizen Action Group

It’s a shame that despite so many surveys and campaigns the BBMP officials and the state government have sat through the reports. At the micro level, the officials are well aware of where all the encroachments have taken place and who is at fault. The names of encroachers are available on the public domain but how come the BBMP doesn’t know? Actually it does know but doesn’t have the guts to take action. Drain deaths will come to an end only when someone is made culpable. The officials should be made responsible for such deaths. When there is a possibility of going behind bars, then we may see them taking action.
Vijayan Menon, civic activist

( Source : deccan chronicle )
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