One rain ruins city

One rain ruins city

The Times of India

Bangalore: Just one rain, an unseasonal one at that, on Sunday night, saw the usual ‘victim’ areas sinking lower. Imagine what it will be like during monsoon.

And the civic agencies’ failure in tackling even this one rain was exposed yet again. Nothing has changed since the last monsoon: neither the pathetic conditions nor the authorities’ indifference. Here is more bad news: the met department officials warn that this unusual rain will continue for another two days.

Just see what rain fury did to the already-battered areas. An entire bus sunk like the Titanic, not in water but in sewage and drainage in the wee hours of Monday, at the Vrishabhavathi valley bed, Mysore Road-Ring Road junction.
At Ganapatipura, Kanakapura, near Metro, the smelly drainage water has spilled onto roads rendering commuter movement near impossible.

The 24th main at Puttenahalli is a mix of stagnant rainwater, stench, thick slush, even 24 hours after Sunday night’s 54-mm rain.

Eshwari Layout in Puttenahalli, one of the worst affected areas in last year’s downpour, is back to square one. On Monday school-children had to gingerly trek to school because their school vans and buses could not traverse the deep slush pools.

Sample more. Bhavana, an executive assistant, has to travel from Kengeri to MG Road. “The roads were blocked for over two hours and we were terribly late to office. The least the authorities can do is set right the mud roads,’’ she says. Zuhair, proprietor of The Club on Mysore Road, says the club interior was inundated and the water had to be pumped out till Monday afternoon.

These were the same areas where the roads and drainage system were devastated a few months ago, and needed an immediate facelift. The then CM Dharam Singh along with bureaucrats visited these areas and had announced a bonanza of crores of rupees for the drainage work in CMC areas alone.

Where did the money go? What were the civic authorities doing in the interim dry period?

Here is a typical reply. “We started asphalting in January, it is still midway. These rains were unexpected but in a few months everything will be done,’’ says an engineer, Bommanahalli CMC.

“Some projects are done keeping in mind the projections of the next five years. We are remodelling something which has been in a bad shape for fifty years now, so it is not an overnight project,’’ explains an engineer working on remodelling drains.

Does this mean residents will have to put up with the rain misery? What is the solution? Mere announcing of aid is of no help. For, it only remains on paper