Rain: Focus on Puttenahalli again

Rain: Focus on Puttenahalli again
Deccan Herald

BANGALORE : When it rains in Bangalore, all eyes turn towards Puttenahalli in JP Nagar. Though there are many other areas in the City which bear the brunt of rains equally, Puttenahalli has been in the spotlight, thanks to its growth into a ‘developed village’ withposh houses, but little infra structure to support.

The summer showers lashing the City over the last three days once againbrought this locality into fo cus, even as the effects of rain were acute in otherparts. What struck the visi tor was not the havoc that the rain had left behind, or the stagnant water. It was the state of roads and the slush.

There were no flooded houses, no people wading through knee-deep or evenankle deep water. But peo ple tiptoed carefully so as to avoid the slush.

All the roads have been dug up, with heaps of mud lying on either side. Though this is for construction of drains, till such time that the work is over, it is a near tight rope run for vehicles and a precarious walk for pedestrians on the already narrow roads.

“There is no stagnant water. But the traffic gets badly affected every time it rains. The slush and the traffic make it awful,” saidBalaji, manager at a soft ware company.

Branches of trees and several electrical poles had snapped in many places. Trees have been serving as medians. But the roots have been so dislocated from the soil that it may not be long before they fall and add to more figures to reports of tree fall.

According to Mr Devaraj Urs, a civil contractor, the situation has been the same for the last three years or so. “Barring the levelling of the area around the Sarakki lake, nothing much has been done, despite ChiefMinister H D Ku maaraswamy’s recent visit. Roads have been dug up for constructing drains, but due to rains work has come to a standstill. In some places, the mud heaps have been left unattended for a long time,” he said.

In-charge Commissionerof Bommanahalli City Mu nicipal Council Mr Narayana said that two or three spells of rains and the storm water drains leading from Sarakki-Jaraganahalli lake to the Raja Kaluve would overflow.

“We are hurrying upwith work related to clear ing the storm water drains, as much is to be done still. Something temporary at least has to be put in place before the rains,” he said.