BENGALURU: It’s sleepless nights for residents of Hebbal as they fear water entering their houses any day during the monsoon season. This is because the Hebbal Storm Water Drain (SWD) is filled to the brim and is likely to overflow if the rainfall persists in the next couple of days. “The water had flowed back and came to our side since the drain has no outlet. We were all awake the entire night recently. The water on the road was knee-high.
We constructed our house four years back and have been facing this problem. The SWD water would’ve entered our house if it rained a bit more. In our area, two-three houses have already been flooded. Right now, the authorities are constructing the side drain but there is no outlet. Raising the wall is the solution to our problem,” says Ajith Kumar, a resident whose house is 50 metres away from the SWD.
Devika Sreekumar, another resident said, “We have seen the ferocity of the water flow in the Main SWD valley which came up to the brim. Thankfully, it didn’t overflow. The cause of the flooding is porous borders ( Hebbal Lake), low height of the wall of drains and waste dumped into the drain. Hebbal Valley carries water from Yeshwatpur, Vidyarayanpura, GKVK and connects to Nagwara Lake and in turn Hennur. For the past six-seven years, the residents of Balaji Layout- Hebbal Sarovara Layout have been suffering as the backwaters hit their areas.”
The residents have sent a letter to the BBMP Commissioner and the Chief Engineer SWD stating that as the SWD is an open drain, waste is being dumped in it. The letter also points out a high court order to the Urban Development Department which states that walls of SWDs need to be raised by September this year.
BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad, however, said, “With 50-100 mm rainfall, the SWD will overflow because these drains were not designed to withstand such weather. Raising the wall is not the solution. The waste encroachment will have to be cleared.”Srinivas Prasanna, Assistant Engineer of SWD, said he was not aware of the petition sent to the BBMP officials but added that he will resolve the issue.