Drain fencing work gains pace While the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike is speeding up the fencing work along the primary drains for the safety of

Drain fencing work gains pace

While the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike is speeding up the fencing work along the primary drains for the safety of citizens, boundaries have to be fixed and encroachments cleared to avoid accidents, Senthalir S reports

Senthalir S



AFTER the death of six-year-old Abhishek, who was washed away in the drain near Lingarajapuram in June, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has gone aggressive on fencing work.
Although the work began last November, only 7km of fencing work was completed along the open drain up to March this year.
"We have speeded up the fencing work and completed 46.63km along the open drain against the target of 70km," a senior BBMP official said.
The fencing work is carried out along the primary drains in all the four valleys, Vrishabhavathi, Hebbal, Koramangala and Shivajinagar (Chellaghatta Valley).
"The secondary drains are feeders to the primary drains and only at critical points, we have used chain-linked fence along the drains. In areas like Mangammapalya, BK Nagar and JP Nagar, we have fenced the drains. It will take at least one-and-half months to complete it.
"At least Rs643 crore has been spent to remodel the storm water drains. The project is carried out under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) projects. Fencing work is done as part of the JNNURM project," the official said.
Emphasising that fencing was not enough, AS Kodandapani, urban planner, said strict enforcement is required now. Violation of rules should not be tolerated. Boundaries have to be fixed and encroachments should be cleared to avoid accidents.
The city corporation had announced its decision to construct a retaining wall and fence at a cost of Rs4,000 crore along the drain.
The city has close to 95km of primary drains, and some 130km of secondary drains, while tertiary drains are divided on the basis of zones.
A sum of Rs643.06 crore was sanctioned after the 2004 'urban floods' for the storm water drain (SWD) project which focused on the remodelling of primary and secondary drains under the JNNURM.