Bengaluru: Seeing the large number of trees coming down in rain in the city, the authorities could set up a control room this monsoon with officials from all civic agencies monitoring the situation in a deluge across Bengaluru for a better and more coordinated response to any emergencies that may arise.
Going by the BBMP , the control room will be manned by the traffic police, Bescom and BWSSB , besides its own officers, who will keep track of the situation on the ground , collect information from their men in the field, and also receive complaints from the public.
Explains a senior traffic police officer, “Around two years ago we had set up a similar control room along with the BBMP, where officials from every department monitored the situation across the city when it rained. It was effective to a degree as the messages were passed on to officers at every level and even senior officers were aware of what was happening in the city. But we have no idea what happened to it. This sort of a crisis managing control room is important because the work gets done without any delay.”
An officer of the BBMP too reveals that although a control room was set up in the past, it has become defunct now. “ We will discuss reviving it with senior officers and contact other civic agencies to allot their personnel to help us operate it,” he says, stressing that coordination between agencies is very important when it rains as besides trees falling, there is waterlogging, power cuts and so on.
“During this time, the co-ordination between civic agencies is important. For example, when a tree falls, the respective officials at the control room will alert their personnel, who will rush to the spot and perform their res-pective duties. The traffic police can start diverting the traffic, the BBMP can start removing the fallen tree and Bescom can look into the da-maged wires. So, there is no wasting of time and the public is not affected,” he adds.
Another officer of the BBMP, emphasises that it is keen on helping the people of the city keep safe in rain. “It is our priority to ensure that they do not suffer in rain. We will ensure that there is better co-ordination among the civic agencies," he promises.
