Deve Gowda wants Sonia to tour city

Deve Gowda wants Sonia to tour city

The Hindu

Blames the problems on land mafia

# Deve Gowda says... Destruction of water bodies caused floods
# Formulate comprehensive plan to prevent flooding
# Re-link all water bodies in and around the city
# Bring all CMC areas under BMP

Bangalore: The former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda has traced the root of the ordeals by the people of Bangalore and on its outskirts because of heavy rain to the greed of the land mafia and the callous destruction of the natural linkages among the water bodies in the city.

For the immediate, he has requested Chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to visit the rain-ravaged areas in the city. They should also assist the State in formulating a comprehensive development plan to avoid such devastation in future.

He has also called for a plan to re-link all the water bodies in and around the city and ensure that the age-old course taken by rainwater is re-established.

For instance, the Sankey Tank's link with the Jakkarayanakere and the Binny Mill tanks (both since breached) and from there to the Vrushabhavati valley should be restored. Similarly, the link between Puttenahalli and Belandur tanks and onwards should be re-established. "It might appear strange that Bangalore situated 3,500 feet above sea level is facing floods. It is due to human greed. Land mafia, obviously with the support extended by politicians over the years, has played a foul game with the people," he said.

Expresses anguish

After a two-day visit to the rain-affected areas, Mr. Deve Gowda expressed his anguish over the sufferings of the citizens and said most of those affected were poor.

He told presspersons on Thursday that the Government should formulate a plan to translocate the people living on encroached lands along tank-beds. Thereafter, it could work out ways and means of raising loan or grant of around Rs. 5,000 crores to form new residential layouts for the people to be translocated and build small houses. It was only with the support of the Centre and external financial institutions such as the World Bank could the State Government undertake such a massive exercise. "We have no choice but to finalise a long-term strategy or else the disaster witnessed over the past week would recur again and again."

Mr. Deve Gowda said he would write to AICC President and to the Prime Minister and seek their cooperation in finding a lasting solution to the problems of Bangalore.

While the Rs. 500 crores assistance extended by the Prime Minister for the relief works in Bangalore and five other districts deserved appreciation, there was also the immediate need to find a permanent solution.

There was no point in helping the economically weaker sections to rebuild or repair a house built on a tank- bed or a canal linking two lakes since the house would collapse again in the event of heavy rain.

Mr. Deve Gowda said, if need be, the Government could constitute a high-level authority to monitor the implementation of translocation scheme and linking all the lakes and tanks.

It could amend the relevant clauses of the Common Municipalities Act to merge the seven CMCs around Bangalore with the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike. The living conditions in the CMCs were appalling, he added.