BENGALURU: Ahead of the onset of the monsoon, Urban Development Minister Byrathi Basavaraj and BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta asked officials of South Western Railway to complete work on the railway bridge expansion on Hebbal valley at the earliest.
BBMP officials said that water flows through Hebbal valley to Kalkere and Rampura lakes. If there is 60mm of rain per hour in this valley, there is no problem, but the area gets waterlogged if there is more than 80mm rain. To address this, the narrow railway bridge near Hebbal valley should be widened.
BBMP engineers said this was conveyed to the Railways and permission was granted to widen the bridge. Widening the bridge is the solution, and there will be no problem of waterlogging in the area even if there is 130mm of rain, they said.
Basavaraj said that locals are inconvenienced due to rain water flowing into Hebbal valley from Sarvagnanagar and CV Raman Nagar, so the issue should be addressed immediately. The minister and chief commissioner visited Hennur Main Road, which flooded last year due to 80-90 mm rain, leading to water logging in Sai Layout and Geddalahalli areas.
They also inspected Kalkere lake, where inlet and diversion channel work is being undertaken. They inspected STP work where engineers were directed to leave space to ensure rain water can flow into the lake uninterrupted. They also inspected Rampura lake, where desilting and construction of diversion channel are being undertaken.