Bengaluru: Bengaluru, which was brought to its knees by the heavy rain of August last year, does not seem to have learnt from the experience and seems as ill prepared to meet the monsoons this year too.
While layouts in Mahadevapura and Bommanahalli bore the brunt of the monsoon fury last year with floods submerging them and throwing normal life out of gear, people of the localities say the BBMP has not taken any precautions to prevent similar flooding these monsoons.
Mr Narendra Kumar, a resident of Mahadevapura complains that the BBMP has failed to provide sink pits or rain water recharge points to arrest flooding despite the nightmare waterlogging of 2017.
And although the deluge did force the government to crack down on the encroachment of SWDs and lakes, the drive was abruptly stopped reportedly for want of surveyors.
BBMP chief engineer (SWD) Bette Gowda, however, says the demolition drive will begin once the survey marking is done. "Already, a letter communication has been issued to hire the surveyors. The process has been delayed due to the code of conduct, which was in place for the assembly poll," he said.
He also claimed that a contingency plan was in place to combat the monsoons.
"Last year 366 vulnerable points were identified and about 339 spots have been attended to," he maintained. Officials, however, concede that low-lying areas like ST Bed, Koramangala, KR Puram, HSR Layout, Double Road, and Dollars Colony may flood once again in heavy rain, but also say the BBMP has formed teams to attend to emergencies.
Total encroachments 1,133
Encroachments cleared 248
Encroachments yet to be cleared 885
