Monsoon blues: moderate rain is enough to bring the city to its knees

Is Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) ready for monsoons? The way many areas got inundated during the recent premonsoon showers, the answer is a resounding no. The BBMP authorities are busy holding meetings, with hardly any measures being taken to mitigate rain-related woes in the city.

Even a moderate rain can flood most of the streets in Bengaluru, thus making commuting difficult in the city. Most of the underpasses get flooded and rain water enters the buildings constructed at low-lying areas during monsoon.

The recent rain also caused a lot of inconvenience to the residents of an apartment complex on Sarjapur Road that got flooded.

Many trees were uprooted thus causing traffic jams. And these calamities happen every year, with no lesson learnt, nor any measures taken to fix rainrelated disruptions on a permanent basis.

“We are yet to recover the loss incurred during last year when our homes were flooded due to heavy rain in November. I hope the BBMP authorities takes concrete measures to clear storm water drains to ensure they carry rain water to the nearest water body without any hassles,” said Chandrasekhar S, a resident of Yelahanka.

It may be recalled that BBMP authorities had to rope in Fire and Emergency Services and National Disaster Response Force to rescue residents of Kendriya Vihar near Yelahanka. The impact was such that it made Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to visit the apartment complex to inspect the rescue operations.

“The BBMP authorities have announced to clear the encroachments on the storm water drain but did nothing so far. The problem with the BBMP authorities is that they become active only after buildings at low-lying areas get flooded. I do not know what is preventing them from taking preventive measures to avoid inconvenience to the public,” said Ram Mohan, a resident.

Many residents of Sai Layout at Cauvery Nagar near Horamavu ward in KR Puram Assembly constituency lost valuables, including laptops and electronic gadgets, when water from a nearby choked storm water drain flowed into the building and in undated the ground floor in September 2020. Later, the BBMP had to engage many workers to clear debris and silt from the storm water drain.

It is said that Bangalore Traffic Police have submitted a list of traffic junctions, underpasses and roads that are vulnerable to flooding, to the BBMP. The police authorities are not sure whether the BBMP has taken their list seriously and is making efforts to fix these problems.

Recently, BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta, who got transferred to Infrastructure Development Department on May 5, had said that the BBMP is prepared for monsoons and all the ward engineers were advised to identify areas prone to water logging and take preventive measures.

“As usual, it has become a habit for BBMP authorities to conduct meetings and issue statements on the preparations made to face monsoons in the city. It has also become a routine for hapless citizens, especially those residing at low-lying areas and adjacent to storm water drains to suffer. The BBMP authorities and elected representatives visit rainaffected areas after two days and announce a pittance as a compensation for those who lost valuables,” said Venkatesh, a resident.