Moderate rain enough to expose BCC

Moderate rain enough to expose BCC
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: In the aftermath of rains that lashed the city on Sunday and Monday, roads turned rivulets and the flooding slowed down traffic as vehicles broke down.

All this with just 7.5 mm rainfall proves that the city has no effective method of storm water routing.

All that Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) can do after the damage is to pick up the pieces. ‘‘We are clearing the roads of fallen trees and branches,’’ a BCC official said.

Asked about the two boys who are feared dead in a storm water drain in Sunday’s downpour, BCC officials told this website’s newspaper the drains cannot be closed but fencing may prevent people and animals stepping into the flow. Here again it is a case of thinking up of solutions after the damage has been done.

An expert said that most of the trees in the city are precarious as their roots are weakened by the foundation trenches of buildings and due to the excavations by BSNL and BWSSB.

Bigger the tree, larger the threat. Even moderate rain accompanied by strong surface winds can uproot these trees. There were 300 instances of branches breaking and about 50 tree falls after Saturday’s wind and rain.