BENGALURU: While the citizens blame the BBMP for poor upkeep of drains, resulting in inundation of houses during rains, the civic body has blamed it on indiscriminate dumping of plastic in storm water drains. Citing an example of the storm water drain at Koramangala, BBMP officials said they had lifted truckloads of plastic from that drain.
“I have inspected the area and the residents have said that the malls dump their waste into the drain. We have issued notices to the two malls near the Sony junction,” said N. Manjunath Prasad, BBMP Commissioner.
On being asked if the unfinished drain work could be one of the reasons behind the flooding, the commissioner said, “This work was going on at six places. Suddenly, the 150mm-180mm of rainfall was not anticipated and this has led to the flooding of houses.”
The drain at the HSR layout which was recently in the news for being clogged due to the dumping of poly bags was one of the worst hit on Tuesday night, as the water overflowed from the drains at 16th Cross. Hawkers often complain of the plastic waste being thrown into the drains by the customers. One of the hawkers, who sell fast food at Koramangala, said, “I keep a dustbin and make it a point not to throw a single plate or polyethene bag into the drain, as not only the corporation but the police personnel will also fine us. The customers throw without our knowledge and we have to bear the brunt.”
Mahesh Kashyap, who works with Centre for Sustainable Development, said it is regrettable that despite the ban on plastic bags, it is being widely used in the city. “Many of them end up in drains and raja kaluves, thereby reducing or stopping the flow of rain water. Disposing plastic waste properly should be made priority rather than throwing it around that ends up in drains or getting to the landfills,” he added. Though the citizens concede that they are partly to blame for the mess, they said the BBMP should not leave the drains uncovered. It was also one of the reasons behind the irresponsible traders and citizens throwing the waste into the drains.
