It is that time of the year when all hell breaks loose

It is that time of the year when all hell breaks loose

Staff Reporter

Unplanned growth, encroachments of tank beds and an uncaring citizenry make for a dysfunctional city during monsoon

— Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

A DELUGE: A file picture of a flooded lane at Puttenahalli in Bangalore.

Bangalore: Unplanned and uncontrolled growth and lacunae in providing infrastructure in the Silicon City are sharply back in focus as yet another monsoon looms over us.

Even as the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is fumbling for permanent solutions to these problems, Bangaloreans’ carelessness is adding to the civic body’s woes in preventing rain-related damage. Many drains are choked with waste dumped by an indifferent citizenry, resulting in blockage and overflow.

Moreover, ignoring the fundamentals of town planning and allowing haphazard constructions in violation of laws — mainly in those areas which were under city municipal councils around Bangalore — are proving to be costly to the Government and the civic agencies. Both the people and the civic agencies should be blamed for the mess.

Lack of open space, constructions blocking the path of natural water flow, encroachment of tank bed areas and either sides of storm water drains, formation of layouts without providing proper gradients to storm water shoulder drains and non-integration of drains from different areas and connecting them to main storm water drain are some of the identified reasons why rain causes havoc in the city. According to K. Sadashivan, an architect, most of these problems could have been avoided had the authorities, mainly municipalities, followed the provisions of the law and fundamentals of town planning.

“Can we blame the rain when we have failed to respect the nature and encroached the areas where rainwater flows?” asked Naresh Kumar, a resident of J.P. Nagar VI Phase, who is a witness to flooding of some localities in Puttenahalli.

“There are enough provisions in the law and rules but the Government’s planning and developing agencies have closed their eyes when all these illegal developments were happening right under their nose,” said a senior town planner and a member of Karnataka Chapter of Institute of Town Planners. Another major problem posed during rains is blockage of vents to drains on either side of road by way of garbage or plastic bags and thus resulting in flooding of the roads. N. Shivashankar, a resident of RMV Extension, mainly blamed the community and shopkeepers for creating this problem by through waste in public places.

“It is true that the BBMP has to clear the garbage regularly but what if people and shopkeepers throw garbage at every place?,” he asked.

Blocked vents pose more problems even on prominent roads like Mahatma Gandhi Road, Ramanamaharshi Road, Richmond Road, K.H. Road, and so on.

M. Sharavan, a retired bank employee of J.P. Nagar and other residents feel that civic agencies — mainly the BBMP, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Bangalore Development Authority and Bangalore Electricity Supply Company — need to coordinate and provide permanent solutions. They want the BBMP to come out with permanent solutions instead of offering temporary relief at the last minute when it rains every year.

Meanwhile, BBMP officials say that they are prepared to face the monsoon with a contingency plan as they have identified 196 vulnerable areas ( 44 in East zone, 22 in West, 41 in South, 25 in Rajarajeshwarinagar, 30 in Bommanahalli, 15 in Byatarayanapura, 14 in Darasahalli and five in Mahadevapura zones) that get most affected during rains.

BBMP Commissioner S. Subramanya said additional control rooms had been set up in addition to the existing control rooms in every zone of the BBMP. Officials are hoping that demolition of illegal structures blocking the storm water drains, increasing the height of retaining walls of drains and remodelling of drains will prevent damages. The real impact can be felt only when all these works are completed.