BENGALURU: Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, it seems, has not learnt from past mistakes. Even though the city experienced heavy rains around the same time last year to catch the civic agency unawares, it was not prepared for the ‘’unexpected rains’’ this time around as well, and this caused havoc in south and west Bengaluru on Sunday night.
The same old problems that haunt Bengalureans repeated after rain lashed the city all Sunday night. While the average rainfall in the city was recorded at 40 mm, 150 mm to 200 mm of it pounded the south and west parts of Bengaluru. The result was that storm water drains and even manholes got clogged, resulting in waterlogged roads and streets.
Silt deposit in drains was not cleared, which caused rainwater to flow onto roads instead, where it stagnated. This was evident in many parts of the city, especially on Mysuru Road, Rajarajeshwarinagar, Hulumavu, Bannerghatta Road, Nagarbhavi and surrounding areas.The BBMP has not identified and pruned or axed weak trees either, with the result that a number of them got uprooted in the downpour. A woman was injured in one such incident recently.
Last year, three people got washed away including one at Kurubarahalli and another in Sheshadripuram after they fell into sections of large drains not covered with slabs. The agency is yet to cover all drains with slabs.
“After Metro station came up at Nayandahalli, thousands of people come here, who are at risk because of gaping holes in drains. Being a busy road junction, we cannot walk on the road, but slab-covered footpaths are open at many places. This becomes very dangerous when it rains and poses a great risk for pedestrians,” Preethi Naik, who works with a software company in Indiranagar told TNIE.
In BBMP limits, there are 633 storm-water drains that are collectively 842-km long. Of this, 142 km are primary drains and 426 km secondary. The drains are built to deal with 80 mm of rainfall but over the years, encroachments and poor maintenance have reduced the capacity to 35-40 mm of rainfall. As a result, any rainfall above this figure results in flooding. “Bengaluru has 325 vulnerable points, and the same has been informed to the BBMP. The authorities claim to have tackled them, but that is far from the truth. Also, some parts of the city are vulnerable to flooding even if it rains 20 mm,’’ Karnataka State Natural Disaster Management Centre Director Srinivas Reddy said.
In July 2016, BBMP officials had given a list of 1,953 SWD encroachments to the then chief minister Siddaramaiah. Of these, they had cleared 1,255 by 2017. However, since last year, the encroachment removal drive was not taken up, so this figure too has stagnated.
Expect rain for three more days
Expect moderate to heavy rainfall for the next two to three days in Bengaluru. "There is cloud formation and we expect rain for the next three days. However, Sunday night's downpour is unlikely to be repeated," said Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) director Srinivasa Reddy. On Sunday, Anjanapura off Kanakapura Road received the highest rain of 206 mm. This was followed by Gottigere and Hulimavu (180 mm) and Uttarahalli and Kengeri (150 mm). Nine stations received more than 124 mm rainfall, which was caused by wind discontinuity and low pressure over the city. Reddy said they had not predicted heavy rains for Sunday and Monday. "We had expected just moderate rainfall of around 65 mm."
Monday’s rain pours woes
Heavy rains that started in the evening on Monday led to waterlogging in several areas in south Bengaluru. As rains lashed the city till late night and even overnight in some areas, many city roads were flooded and power cuts were reported from many parts. Basavanagudi, Jayanagar, Kanakpura Road, Kengeri, Vijaynagar, Chandra Layout, Koramangala, Banaswadi, RR Nagar, Nagasandra, Cunningham Road, Vasanth Nagar and many other parts of the city witnessed heavy rains. Power cuts were reported from Jayanagar, Nagasandra and surrounding areas.
Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said he had asked the BBMP Commissioner to take necessary precautions to avert mishaps. “BBMP officials are on high alert and people residing in low-lying areas should be cautious,” he said. A forecast by the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre issued on Monday predicted inundation at Laggere, Mudlupalya, Yeshwatpur railway station area, JP park in RR nagar zone, NGV to HSR layout, Munireddy layout in Bommanahalli zone, and a few low-lying areas in Dasarahalli zone.