BENGALURU: Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister Dr Parameshwara had instructed officials to speed up clearing of encroachments on the stormwater drain on Monday. However, with encroachment still rampant and the officials facing challenges of their own, the process could take a while.
Currently, out of 1,953 encroachments reported by the Revenue Department, the SWD Department has tackled 1,225. These encroachments cause flooding during heavy rain, many instances of which were seen during the monsoon in 2017. Parameshwara had instructed officials to clear all encroachments, except those which had got a stay order. Officials have found 29 instances where a stay order has been issued.
Sridhar Pabbisetty, CEO, Namma Bengaluru Foundation, said in cases of alleged encroachment, the Court may issue an interim stay as it wishes to understand the matter. “But it is the duty of the state government to go back and vacate the stay. It shows that the government is purposely not pursuing this option,” he said. He said the legal department of the government should be held accountable for this.
Lack of surveyors
In addition, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials from the Storm Water Drain (SWD) Department face many hurdles in clearing the SWDs. Chief Engineer of the BBMP’s Storm Water Drains (SWD) Department Bette Gowda said surveys of the drains to be cleared or remodelled were being carried out now, following which clearing of the encroachments will begin.
An issue the department has faced is the lack of surveyors. Gowda said BBMP has no surveyors of its own, and depends on surveyors from the Revenue Department to get its work done, which slows down work. “We have asked the government for full-time surveyors. It would also help us remove encroachments as and when they happen, which would also act as a deterrent for encroachers,”
he said.
Regarding constructions within the buffer zones of SWDs, an official from the department said as the concept of buffer zones did not exist earlier, it was not enforced.“Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) itself built many layouts on buffer zones, and now it is just not possible to clear them,” the official said.
Muralidhar Rao, President of the advocacy group Praja-RAAG, has alleged that one such encroachment is being currently carried out on a storm-water drain in Domlur. The builder has claimed they have permission from the BBMP to cover the drain, and were doing so for aesthetic reasons. However, BBMP officials are not aware of this.