Bengaluru: Bengaluru Mayor Sampath Raj asked all chief engineers in the city to submit detailed reports on flood-prone areas in their jurisdictions, reasons for flooding during the recent rains, measures that needed to be taken and the works in progress to avoid future flooding.
During the BBMP Council meeting on Tuesday, Mr Raj said, “I want all the chief engineers to submit their reports on the storm water drain works in progress and the status of potholes filled, by Thursday evening. We should ensure that every SWD is desilted and maintained, so that no flooding occurs again when it rains. I, along with the commissioner, will inspect the areas that were flooded during recent rains.”
BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad said that the city has an SWD network of 842 km, but fence and concrete walls are present in only 145 km stretch. “For the first time, every part of the SWD is being looked into and wherever the problem exists, it will be resolved at the earliest. Already, the work is in progress in several areas,” he said.
Ward Committees
Every ward should have a ward committee under the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976. The committee will have the corporator as the president, while the commissioner will have the power to appoint the secretary, who can be assistant executive engineers or executive engineers. The committee will have representation from SC/STs, women and children and two people from resident welfare associations. The strength of the committee is restricted to 10 members. The committee should meet every month and discuss the resolutions taken up at the Council. They can invite the public and BBMP officials to attend the meeting.
The commissioner said that the Council should hasten the process to allow committees to come into existence at the earliest.
