Bengaluru was in knee-deep waters again, with the northern parts of the city bearing the brunt of the rain fury early on Monday morning. Homes were flooded and roads were inundated in Thanisandra, Vidyaranyapura, Yeshwanthpur, Uttarahalli, K.R. Puram and Ulsoor as over 70 mm rainfall lashed the areas within four hours. Angry residents gheraoed Bengaluru Development Minister K.J. George in Thanisandra for not implementing the promised development works. Aksheev Thakur, Aknisree Karthik and Mujahid Deputy report.
Torrential rains in the early hours of Monday left several areas in the city inundated and the residents were seen baling out water from their flooded homes. Vidyaranyapura, Yeshwanthpur, Uttara halli, K.R. Puram, Thanisandra and Ulsoor were the worst affect. Most of the residents had a sleepless night and by morning, there was knee-deep water all over their areas.
Byatarayanapura, which is one of the biggest assembly constituencies in Bengaluru, received 70 mm of rainfall within four hours. The residents blamed lack of proper drainage behind flooding in the area.
Mr Mohammad Rafique, a construction worker staying at Fathima Layout for the past four years, said that he is forced to stay at home every monsoon season. “It is the same story for the last four years. Since Monday night, we have not cooked anything. We don’t even have clean water to drink,” he said.
Byatarayanpura is Agriculture Minister Krishna Byregowda’s constituency and the residents complained that the minister has not visited the area. Angry residents raised slogans against the area corporator and the minister. Byatarayanpura corporator P.V. Manjunath said that flooding is common here as it is a low-lying area.
Read | Guest column: Replace box shaped drains with pipes
Ismail, a social worker and a resident of Fathima Layout, said, “The ministers are not bothered. That is because majority of the residents in Thanisandra and Byatarayanpura are poor. Neither the minister nor the corporator has visited the area since Monday night. For the past 10 years, promises are being made by successive governments on building a drain but nothing has been done.”
In Vasanthpura, Janardhana Lake breached flooding houses in nearby areas. The residents of Koramangala Fourth Block 4 too faced inconvenience in the morning, while going to office as the overnight downpour had flooded the area with knee-deep waters.
People wade through water-logged streets in Nandagokula Layout in Bengaluru on Monday. (Photo: DC)
Rajnikanth Malli, a storm water drain engineer with the BBMP at Byatarayanpura, said that shortage of funds is the biggest problem in carrying out developmental works. “Over Rs 800 crore has been released by the government for all the 198 wards. Of this, the government has allocated Rs 60 crore for the construction of a storm water drain in the Byatarayanpura constituency,” he said.
Mayor conducts inspection in Vasanthpura
Mayor G. Padmavathi carried out an inspection to assess the situation at Vasanthpura, where nearly 100 houses were flooded after the waste weir of Janardhana Lake (Katyavana Kunte) breached. The weir breached after torrential rain early on Monday morning. The BBMP pressed its staff and equipment to clear the flooded area. Fire force and state disaster management personnel joined hands with the BBMP in clearing the water.
Blame BBMP’s attitude for traffic jams across city
The record rainfall on the intervening night of August 14 and 15 that brought the IT City to its knees and the heavy downpour for three consecutive days since Thursday seems to have not taught any lessons to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike. The civic body’s apathy and lackadaisical attitude in clearing clogged drains and repairing gaping potholes have resulted in gridlocks across the city.
Traffic on all major roads and junctions in the city is moving at a snail’s pace because of flooded streets and potholes, forcing the Bengaluru traffic police to cover potholes with mud and stones to facilitate smooth flow of traffic, as BBMP officials seem reluctant to do their job.
“It is not the right time to play the blame game. If they (BBMP officials) are not doing their duty, someone has to do it. We just cannot let vehicles pile up for kilometres. But the problem is, the repair work we have done is only temporary and the mud will flow away once the rain starts,” said a police constable, who was repairing potholes at the Chinyanpalya junction.
The condition has gone from bad to worse on the service road near Lumbini Garden, Manyata Tech Park, where four vehicles were deployed to pump water out of the flooded road.
Hundreds of vehicles were stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Hebbal Road, Hosur Road, Bannerghatta Road, Marigowda Road, Lal Bagh Main Road, Sony World Junction, Ruby Junction, Sagar Automobile Junction, Bismillah Nagar Junction, between Anepalya towards Mico Bande Junction, Kottigepalya Bus Stop towards Sumanahalli, Giringer Junction, Cottonpet Main Road and Goodshed Road, to name a few.
Govt interested in spending money, not getting results: Ashwin Mahesh, Civic Expert
The BBMP has been spending crores of rupees to improve the fragile infrastructure of Bengaluru. Since 2016, the Palike is remodelling its 842 km stretch of stormwater drains at a cost of Rs 800 crore. On Sunday, Benglauru Development Minister announced a Rs 300-crore short-term plan, which includes three components – flood damage correction works, procurement of robotic excavators for cleaning drains and flood rescue operations.
But are these crores of rupees being spent really helping the city improve its infrastructure and prevent the city from getting flooded? Ask urban expert Ashwin Mahesh this, and his answer is a big ‘no’.
“The BBMP has come up with the short-term project. But on what basis has it come up with this project? What purpose will it serve? From where did they get this idea? What is the scientific reason behind this project? Were any experts consulted before coming up with this huge Rs 300-crore project,” Mr Mahesh asked.
“This project is just an ad hoc arrangement. The government has come up with this plan only for its convenience and is keen only to spend the money, rather than get results,” he said.
“The BBMP should stop building drains that will take rainwater through gravity to low-lying areas (unless if it is a lake or a water body). It is such a foolish move. Rainwater should not be allowed to flow for long distances. With the help of soak pits at regular intervals, water should be allowed to percolate into the ground,” he said.
“Can't we manage the city’s garbage at ward levels? Why should the garbage generated in J.P. Nagar go all the way to Mandur? That's because, a lot of money is involved in transporting garbage. The same principle applies to stormwater drains. Projects to build drains, stormwater drains, desilting, covering drains with slabs and building culverts are some of the works that are taken up annually and are cash cows for contractors, politicians and babus,” Mr Ashwin said.
