BENGALURU: With roads in Mahadevapura zone flooded after the 58-mm deluge on Tuesday and traffic taking a hit, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner Tushar Girinath chaired a monsoon preparatory meeting.
“The first round of stormwater drain (SWD) cleaning will be taken up by the end of April in all zones and this will be repeated again in May,” Girinath told reporters after the meeting.
He said small incidents of water logging were reported on Tuesday and the water receded quickly. To ensure steps are taken at vulnerable points during heavy rains, the BBMP has decided to enter into an agreement with the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) to install rain gauges in 200 vulnerable points (stormwater drains).
“The gauges will send an alert if the level indicates any possible flooding. Based on these signals, we can send officials to the spot for timely action,” said Girinath.
The Commissioner also pointed out that he has directed all the Chief Engineers and Joint Commissioners to take up desilting of stormwater drains by April-end. “The second level of cleaning will be done again in May before the arrival of monsoon in June. The small incidents of flooding were due to all civic agencies working on a war footing before the monsoon and leaving the utilities and material on the roadside,” he said and directed officials to clear obstructions at the earliest.
Girinath also said 50 per cent of engineers from the SWD Department are on election duty, but they will also carry on with SWD work during the monsoon as 450 km of drains have to be well maintained. A 24x7 control room will be set up at the BBMP head office with officials from the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board and Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company.