Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday ordered officials to raze properties obstructing rajakaluves (stormwater drains).
The CM personally inspected areas in Mahadevapura which witnessed severe flooding on Tuesday following heavy rain. He inspected the area near DNA apartment and Columbia hospital, Shantiniketan Layout, Ecospace and Sakra World hospital drain.
The CM had issued a similar order on Wednesday after holding a review meeting to assess the flood situation and look into the causes for inundation in Bengaluru’s tech corridor.
A senior BBMP official who was privy to Wednesday’s meeting said the civic body has identified 9-11 locations in Mahadevapura zone where stormwater drains are encroached. The official said the government is committed to razing the structures.
During the inspection near DNA apartment on Marathahalli Road on Thursday, the CM noticed that a 30-ft-wide drain had shrunk to 4-ft due to encroachment. He sternly directed the officials to bulldoze all the obstructions.
Similar directions were given after reviewing the situation near Ecospace. Bommai said Bommanahalli and Mahadevpura zones are the worst affected. He claimed that Yelahanka zone, which reeled under floods during last rain, withstood the downpour this time as several measures were undertaken.
Earlier in the afternoon, civic officials anxiously waited for the CM to arrive at Nallurahalli. The visit was to commence at 3.15pm, but the CM was two hours behind schedule.
Bommai, who arrived near Ecospace at 7pm, where a stretch of Outer Ring Road (ORR) had turned into a rivulet on Tuesday, inspected the rajakaluve from where the water was entering the road. Ahead of his visit, a bout of heavy rain had water flowing out of the stormwater drain, inundating a 100-metre stretch of ORR (in pic). While commuters had a tough time, the water receded by the time the CM arrived.
Meanwhile, BBMP had pressed its men into action to clear the outlet of the same rajakaluve located nearly 800 metres away from where the water was overflowing. They started excavation work but on finding a cable, the work was halted as it wasnt clear if the cable belonged to Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation (KPTCL) or Bescom.
Soon, an rgument ensued between KPTCL and Bescom officials and finally it was determined that KPTCL had laid the cable. Officials objected to the excavation work, saying it would damage the cable. Later, a contractor working for the urban local body convinced them that he will carry out the work smoothly without harming the cable.
BBMP special commissioner Trilok Chandra said the Palike has identified over 10 locations where properties are obstructing stormwater drains and soon an encroachment-clearance drive will be taken up.
