BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has assured residents of HSR Layout that problems arising due to frequent flooding during the monsoon will be resolved soon as the government is planning a permanent solution to the issue. Speaking to residents after visiting the locality to inspect civic works, he said that he has already released `800 crore to construct retaining walls for storm water drains. “As part of this work, there will be desilting and other works taken up in these SWDs to prevent flooding,” he said. “The earlier governments did not do much to address these issues. We will look into your problems. We will ensure that Bengalureans do not have any problem like these,” he addded.
The CM said the city has 830 km of SWD network of which work has been taken up on 400 km of SWDs. “After the recent floods another Rs 300 crore has been released, of which Rs 65 crore has been earmarked just for Bommanahalli constituency,” he said. He assured that in the next budget another Rs 1,500 crore will be released to complete the work on the entire SWD network in the city. Earlier, the residents poured out their woes to the CM stating that the flooding every year has had a devastating effect on them. “Every year, it floods when there is a heavy rainfall. This year, it is pathetic.
Water was about five-foot-deep. Many vehicles have been damaged badly,” a resident said and urged Siddaramaiah to see the damage for himself. Another resident alleged that neither BBMP nor BWSSB has taken up any drainage work in the last eight years and officials of both the civic bodies just pass the buck. Local MLA Satish Reddy attributed this year’s flooding to the overflowing Madiwala lake. Home minister Ramalinga Reddy said that flooding is due to heavy silt in Bellandur lake. “ If the lake is desilted, there won’t be a problem in future,” he felt. Earlier, when Siddaramaiah visited JC Road, he was shown the encroachment of storm water drains at Kumbar Gundi Layout. The CM instructed officials that all such encroachment should be cleared.
BWSSB faces flak
The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) was at the receiving end at HSR Layout with the residents attacking it for the snailpaced work on construction of drains in the layouts. They said the layout is flooding and the sewage work is pending. “It had been pending for six years. They don’t respond to complaints,” they said. When the CM asked, BWSSB Chairman Tushar Girinath admitted to the delay and said that they would pick up the pace.