It took overflowing lakes, choked storm-water drains (SWDs) and flooded neighbourhoods for the civic body to finally swing into action. Mayor B.N. Manjunath Reddy announced that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), on Monday, will appeal against a High Court order staying work on a storm-water drain between Arekere and Madiwala lakes. Officials will be submitting video footage of parts of South Bengaluru that are under water.
Friday’s floods were a direct result of the lack of channels between the upstream lakes and Madiwala lake. Apart from this, Madiwala lake itself had overflowed.
Stalled workThe BBMP had started work on a storm-water drain between the lakes, but the project hit a legal hurdle as private land owners in the area — who BBMP claimed were encroachers — got a stay for further construction from the High Court.
Sources said the civic body is also likely to file a caveat in the High Court in cases pertaining to lakes and storm-water drain issues that could crop up in the future.
“It’s sad that it requires a flood of this proportion to push our civic body into action,” said Wng Cdr (retd) G.B. Athri, member, lake watch committee, Madiwala Lake, which was at the epicentre of flooding on Friday. “The drains and rajakaluve encroachments are the chief reason behind the floods in the area. Now, citing a stay order from the High Court as an excuse for the stalled work on the crucial drain cannot be accepted. The stay order was given almost five months ago. What has BBMP done to get the stay order vacated so far,” asked Mr. Athri.
Bunds failedHowever, it was not just the case of one stalled drain that wreaked havoc. BBMP teams are still strengthening the bunds of the lakes, most of which have filled to the brim. Ideally, the tank bunds should have been strengthened before the monsoon, likewise the work on storm-water drains should have already been completed, say urban planners.
While this year’s State budget made an allocation of about Rs. 800 crore towards SWDs in the city, no work has begun yet.
Rajakaluve encroachment report awaitedFollowing the floods and deluge in Chennai, K.B. Koliwad, chairman of the legislature committee on city’s lakes, ordered for a survey of all rajakaluves and storm-water drains in the city. However, even after over six months and several extensions, the civic body is yet to submit a report to the committee.
“The last meeting was on July 24. But the BBMP and Revenue Department, jointly conducting the survey, sought for more time. I have asked them to submit the final report within 10 days. The committee will later take a call on the removal of these encroachments. Unless these channels are restored, there is no point in trying to save the lake, let alone the land,” said Mr. Koliwad, also the speaker of the legislative assembly.
