Bengaluru: With almost every underpass in the city getting flooded during rains, the BBMP, which had ignored the issue all these years, has finally woken up to the problem.
Underpasses at Okalipuram junction, Whitefield, Sadananda Nagar near Byappanahalli, on Outer Ring Road behind Ramamurthy Nagar police station and many more in the city see 6-8 feet of water just after rains, affecting the movement of traffic. A senior traffic police officer said, "We have complained to the BBMP a number of times about flooding of underpasses and to ensure a system where water flows out immediately. But nothing has been done. They should understand that underpasses connect parallel main roads and see a heavy movement of traffic. The underpasses have slopes at both entrances and exits, and water flows to the middle of the underpass and stagnates." A senior BBMP officer said, "We have informed zone level engineers to inspect the underpasses and to submit a report. We will check if choked drains or lack of space for water to flow is causing the flooding. We have to act fast and monsoon is approaching. The mayor too has asked us to clear the spots where water logging occurs." Motorists, however, believe that underpasses are designed badly. Subhash Kumar, an architect, said, "These underpasses are a waste of money as they are not designed properly. Officials should have ensured proper outlets for water at the time of construction. Now it is difficult and also expensive to construct outlets."
